How to Use the Online Excel Editor: Toolbar, Pivot Table & Sheet Protection

Get Started: Open, Edit, Export

1. Open the Online Excel Editor and click Import File — or drag an .xlsx, .xlsm, .xls, .csv or .tsv file anywhere onto the page. The free tier opens files up to 10 MB. To practice first, pick an entry from the Select sample dropdown (samples and templates).
2. Edit in the grid: the ribbon’s Home, Insert and Data tabs work like desktop Excel — formatting, formulas, freeze panes, sorting and filtering included.
3. Your workbook auto-saves to the browser as you work and is restored the next time you open the page. Only use the trash icon (Clear local auto-save cache) when you want a clean slate.
4. Pick an export format on the right of the toolbar — Excel (.xlsx), Excel 97-2003 (.xls), CSV (.csv) or TSV (.tsv) — and press Export. CSV/TSV export the active sheet only.

Everything runs locally: the file is parsed in your browser and never uploaded to a server. Nothing you import leaves your device.

The Top Toolbar, Button by Button

The header above the grid holds the file actions and the Pro tools. Left to right:

Ribbon Data Tools on the Home and Data Tabs

Beyond the standard Excel-style ribbon, the editor adds four tools to the Home tab and three to the Data tab:

• Remove Duplicates from ExcelStandalone batch version — dedupe whole files without opening the editor.
• Split Text into Columns in ExcelThe same splitting logic as a one-file online tool.

Create a Pivot Table in Five Steps

1. Select the source data — headers in the first row plus at least one data row (2×2 minimum).
2. Open the pivot panel: Insert tab ▸ Pivot Table, the toolbar’s Pivot Table button, or right-click the selection and choose Pivot Table.
3. Choose the placement: New sheet, or Current sheet — with Current sheet, click an empty cell in the grid and press Use current selection to set the target.
4. Build the layout in the sidebar: drag fields into Filters, Columns, Rows and Values (or use the ＋ menu on a field). The Preview at the bottom updates live.
5. Press Create. The pivot table is written to the chosen location.

Pivot tables are a Pro feature — on the free tier, clicking the button opens the upgrade dialog. Every other data tool in this guide is free.

Pivot Table Panel: Every Option Explained

The sidebar reads top to bottom: source range, placement, the Fields list, the four drop zones, Options and a live Preview. The controls on each field chip:

• Fields list — every source column header. Drag chips between zones, drag within a zone to reorder, or drag a chip out of the panel to remove the field.
• Filters zone — independent of the row and column axes: rows are filtered before aggregation. Click ⏷ on a field chip for the member checklist — untick members to exclude them (the chip shows the excluded count) — with Select all / Clear all for quick resets.
• Smart aggregation — a numeric column drops into Values as Sum, anything else as Count. Switch any time on the chip: Sum, Count, Count Numbers, Average, Min, Max or Product.
• Group by date — date-like columns get a selector on the chip: Years, Quarters, Months, Days or Hours.
• Member sorting — the ⇅ button cycles Default order → Sort A to Z → Sort Z to A.
• Value field settings (⚙) — Custom name renames the value column; Number format offers General, Integer (1234), 2 decimals (0.00), Thousands separator and Percent (0%); Show values as switches between Normal, % of grand total, % of row total and % of column total.
• Options box — Grand total column (right), Grand total row (bottom), Subtotals per group (appears with nested fields) and Show empty cells as 0.

Multiple value fields are supported: with no column field, each value field becomes its own column with its own aggregation and its own total.

Edit, Refresh and Export a Pivot Table

• Click any cell inside a pivot table and the field panel reopens with its configuration; adjust anything and press Refresh.
• Source data grew? The Refresh Pivot Table toolbar button rebuilds the pivot and auto-expands the source range to include new rows and columns (it never shrinks it).
• Exported as .xlsx, the pivot becomes a real native Excel PivotTable — Excel and WPS recalculate it on open (refresh-on-load), and pivot tables imported from existing workbooks round-trip too.

Placement is locked at creation: an existing pivot table can only be refreshed on its original sheet. To move it, delete it and create a new one.

Protect a Worksheet: Every Option Explained

Click the padlock (Protect sheet) to open the dialog. Protection takes effect in the exported .xlsx file — Excel and WPS restrict editing when the file is opened — while the web editor itself always stays fully editable.

• Password (optional) — leave empty for protection without a password (free); setting a password is a Pro feature. On an already-protected sheet, empty boxes keep the current password; tick Remove password (keep passwordless protection) to downgrade to password-free.
• Allow others to — fifteen checkboxes mirroring Excel’s model: Select locked cells and Select unlocked cells (on by default — they control what can be selected, not what can be edited), Format cells / columns / rows, Insert rows / columns, Delete rows / columns, Sort, Use auto filter, Insert hyperlinks, Use PivotTables, Edit objects (images, shapes, charts) and Edit scenarios.
• Editable ranges (unlocked cells) — select cells in the grid first, then Add current selection; those ranges stay editable after protection while everything else locks. Click a range’s A1 reference to locate it in the sheet, ✕ removes one, Clear all resets the list.
• Protect workbook structure — a workbook-level lock that prevents adding, deleting, renaming, moving or hiding sheets in the exported file, with its own optional password (Pro).

Finish with Apply protection; Remove protection clears it from the active sheet. Protected sheets show a small blue dot on the padlock icon.

• Excel Password RemoverStrip a forgotten sheet password from a file you own.

Version History and Auto-Save

The editor auto-saves the workbook into your browser on every change and restores it the next time you open the page — no account needed. Clear local auto-save cache deletes that snapshot.

• Version history (Pro) groups snapshots by Today / Yesterday / date, and can filter down to the current sheet only.
• Previewing a version is read-only; restoring first saves a pre-restore snapshot, so you can always go back again.
• Pin up to 10 versions — pinned versions are exempt from automatic pruning.