Help secure and protect data in Excel

It's time to check your macro security levels.

You'll be able to look at a digital certificate, and you'll try out the other security settings.

Important     The practice session contains a digitally signed macro so that you can see a digital certificate. (If you ran the macro, it would check how many non-blank cells are in the worksheet.)

The first exercise is about checking a digital certificate. To do this, you must add the macro publisher to your Trusted Publishers by following these instructions:

1. Open Excel.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options. Click the Security tab, and then click the Macro Security button.
3. In the Security dialog box, click the Security Level tab if it's not already selected.
4. Click High. Click OK twice.
5. Click the Practice in Word button below.
6. When you see a security warning dialog box, select the Always trust macros from this publisher check box. (This isn't permanent, and we'll tell you how to change it back.)
7. Then click Enable Macros, and the practice document will open.

After the practice session, you can remove the certificate and change the security level back to its previous setting. Instructions for doing this are in the practice.

If you click Disable Macros, Excel will open, but neither the practice steps nor the practice document will open.

If your macro security level is set to Very High, the macro will automatically be disabled.

About the practice session

When you click Practice in Excel, a practice worksheet will download to your computer and open in Excel, and a separate window with practice instructions will appear alongside (see picture).

Note     You need to have Excel 2003 installed on your computer.

Tips

• If the practice instructions aren't visible, or if they disappear when you click in Excel, click the Excel Help taskbar button and then click the Auto Tile button in the upper-left corner of the instructions.
• If the practice instructions cover up Excel, click the Auto Tile button in the upper-left corner of the instructions.

Before you begin

Make sure to close Excel if it is already running.

Start the practice

Click the Practice in Excel button now.