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Save options

You decide what users
are allowed to save.

A plain Excel file leaks your structure, your formulas, and your VBA in every copy a user saves. XLS Padlock replaces that with a simple per-workbook choice: allow secure save, and your users keep their work in an encrypted .XLSC file only your compiled application can reopen, or disallow saving entirely. Either way, your original workbook stays protected.

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The XLS Padlock welcome dialog in a compiled workbook, letting the end user open the original workbook, choose a save file, or load a recent save.
The welcome dialog a customer sees on launch: open the original workbook, pick a save file, or load their most recent secure save.

Pick the policy that matches your workbook.

The usual choice

Allow secure save

Your users keep the Save command they already know. XLS Padlock writes their changes to a secure storage file at the location they choose, so nobody loses their work.

Best for: Personal finance trackers, project workbooks, fill-in forms, quotes, any tool where customers need to keep their changes.

or

Disallow saving

Users can still view, edit, and run calculations during the session, but changes are discarded when they close. The workbook always reopens exactly as you shipped it.

Best for: Templates, reference workbooks, demos, one-shot calculators, high-security viewers.

The Save Options panel in the XLS Padlock editor, with checkboxes to show the welcome screen, save and load automatically, lock saved files to one computer, and more.
You set the save policy once in the XLS Padlock editor: show the welcome screen, save and reload automatically, or lock saved files to a single computer.

Your users can always save their work.

When you allow saving, customers use the Save command they already know. Their changes go into a secure file, your original workbook stays protected, and everyone gets their session back next time.

  • The standard Save button. Customers click the usual Save button or File then Save. A dialog asks where to store their secure copy, just like saving any Excel file. (Excel's separate Save As command is disabled.)
  • Secure encrypted storage. Changes are written to an encrypted save file: a full snapshot (.XLSC), or only the cell values you define (.XLSCE), which stays compatible with future updates of your app. End users can reopen it only by running your compiled application, never as a plain Excel file. As the author, you can still decrypt a save file to recover a customer's data.
  • Your original is never overwritten. The workbook you shipped stays intact. On the next launch, customers choose to open the original or any version they saved before, the last one or an earlier one.
  • Formulas stay protected. If you protected your formulas, they remain hidden inside every saved copy. Customers see results, not your logic.
  • VBA automation. From VBA, you can save a secure copy without prompting the user, or suggest a filename for the save dialog.
The save-location dialog in a compiled XLS Padlock workbook, asking the end user where to store their secure copy.
Saving works as usual: clicking Save lets the customer choose where to store their secure copy of the workbook.

You stay in control.

XLS Padlock is a one-time purchase, not a middleman between you and your buyers. Everything the protection depends on stays yours.

Shipping since 2013 from G.D.G. Software. A desktop tool you can build a business on.

The workbook
Your .xlsx never leaves your machine. You compile it yourself into a standalone EXE.
The keys
You generate, count, and revoke activation keys. No per-copy fee, no royalties on your sales.
The server
Activations validate against a PHP server you host and own, not ours.
The customer
You sell directly. The buyer relationship and the full revenue stay with you.
Free trial · No credit card · No time limit

Protect your Excel workbook in minutes.

One license, every feature included. Lifetime ownership, no subscription.

Try the free trial Buy XLS Padlock