Giving permission to specific people to edit specific ranges in excel, without password.

Hello @Shivaharan Arumugam EB

From what you described and the screenshot provided:

• You are using Microsoft Excel desktop.
• The file is shared online with specific people.
• You went to Review > Allow Users to Edit Ranges > New… to assign edit permissions without a password.
• When clicking Permissions and trying to add a specific person, their name does not appear in the “Select Users or Groups” window.
• The selection window shows a local computer or domain location, not the shared users’ emails.

To better assist you, could you please clarify:

• Are you and the people you are sharing with part of the same Microsoft 365 organization (e.g., same company domain), or are they external guests?
• Are you currently using the Excel desktop application, or are you trying to manage these permissions through Excel for the Web?

To clarify more about this feature, you can think of the "Allow Users to Edit Ranges" feature in Excel as a "physical key" designed for a local office building.

• This feature was built for local computers or corporate networks (where your IT department manages user accounts). It relies on your local Windows system to "see" your colleagues.
• However, when you save a file to the Cloud (OneDrive or SharePoint), you are no longer in that "local office." You are on the internet. The "Allow Users to Edit Ranges" tool cannot "see" your collaborators on the cloud because it doesn't speak the same language as the online sharing system. That is why the name picker is empty or unable to find your shared users.

For your reference: Lock or unlock specific areas of a protected worksheet - Microsoft Support

If you specifically want to use this "Allow Users to Edit Ranges" feature, you must change how you handle your file. Please follow these steps in order:

1/ Move the file to your local computer:

Save the file to your Desktop or a local folder (not on OneDrive or SharePoint).

(The feature only works when the file is "locally owned" by your computer's system, not the cloud.)

2/ Go to the "Review" Tab:

Click on "Allow Users to Edit Ranges" and click "New".

3/ Select the Range:

Highlight the specific cells you want to give permission for.

4/ Assign Permissions:

Click the "Permissions" button. If you are on a corporate network, your colleagues' names should now appear here. You can select them directly.

5/ Protect the Sheet: After setting the range, you must click "Protect Sheet" (in the same menu) and set a password.

(The range permissions will not be enforced by Excel until the entire sheet is officially protected.)

If you still need my assistance, please come back with screenshots or any additional details so I can review it again and see if there’s anything more I can help you with.  

Have a nice day!  

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The people picker in Allow Users to Edit Ranges → Permissions does not list cloud “share” users. It only works with accounts from the Windows/Active Directory domain that the computer is joined to.

To use this feature, the requirements are:

• The computer must be running Windows XP or later.
• The computer must be joined to a domain.
• The users you add must be domain users or groups (typed and resolved with Check Names).

If the person is only an external/online sharing recipient and not a user in the same domain, that account will not appear in this dialog and cannot be added there.

Workarounds:

1. Use a range password instead of per‑user permissions:
   • Review → Allow Edit Ranges → New.
   • Define the range.
   • Enter a password in Range password and share that password with the people who should edit it.
2. Or avoid per‑user permissions and just unlock the cells for everyone:
   • Select the cells → Format Cells → Protection tab → clear Locked → OK.
   • Then protect the sheet.

Per‑user editable ranges based on user identity are only supported for domain users on Windows, not for arbitrary online sharing identities.

References:

• Lock or unlock specific areas of a protected worksheet
• Can’t edit certain cells in a protected worksheet in Excel for Mac