Optimal security for your Excel workbooks

XLS Padlock provides optimal security for your Excel workbooks through several security options and features as detailed below.

Make the sharing of your workbook impossible…

⇒ Make your workbook accessible on one computer only, thanks to hardware-locked keys.

⇒ Make your workbook accessible only when a dongle or USB stick is inserted.

⇒ Control who can use your workbook thanks to the online activation and validation features.

Protect your formulas, great security for your Excel workbooks…

⇒ Keep your formulas secret with formula protection.

⇒ Calculations will work, but users will not have access to your formulas.

⇒ Disable the Formular Bar.

Protect your Excel VBA code, a perfect security for Excel workbooks

⇒ Secure your sensitive VBA code thanks to the Excel VBA compiler of XLS Padlock.

⇒ Stop access to the VBA Project by locking your project or preventing access to the Visual Basic Editor.

Prevent user actions in your Excel spreadsheets

You have several options to prevent some usual user actions:

• prevent loading and saving other spreadsheets in the same Excel instance.
• disable print operations in Excel and PDF export.
• disable all ribbons and toolbars.
• disable right click (no context menu).
• disable “cell copy and cut to clipboard” commands.

Prevent users from saving in your workbook…

XLS Padlock lets you decide if you want your users to be able to [save their changes in your Excel workbook or not](/save-options).

→ If you disallow saving, your workbook will never be modified.

→ If you allow saving, your original workbook will still always be accessible. Changes will be saved in another crypted file that can only be opened with your secure application.

Code sign your compiled workbook

When you digitally sign a compiled workbook EXE file (this is called code signing), you ensure end users that the code within the EXE file they are to receive has not been tampered with or altered.

Thanks to XLS Padlock, it is easy to sign your .exe files since XLS Padlock handles everything itself. SHA-256 code signing is supported and even code signing certificates stored on secure tokens.

Set limitations on your distributed workbooks…

These limitations can be set if you use activation keys (simple or hardware-locked) or dongle protection. Just choose the appropriate options and deliver keys to your end users (trial or registered ones):

• limit the number of times your workbook can be run

• show a nag screen / trial reminder at startup to inform your end users that they must purchase the workbook to continue to use it:

• make your keys expire after:

→ a given number of days

→ a given date.

Generate activation keys in mass thanks to the stand-alone key generator

Note: VBA programmers can determine whether the workbook is in trial state thanks to XLS Padlock VBA API code extensions.