Microsoft office programs offer us a wide variety of functionalities, and on this occasion we want to highlight the possibility of adding or removing a watermark in Excel.
This is a simple way to give greater protection to your spreadsheets and, precisely for this reason, it is important that you know it. Read on to discover new Excel tricks.
What is the watermark in Excel and what is it for?
This is a feature available in Office programs with which we can insert an image or transparent text into the background of a document. In this specific case, in the background of a spreadsheet.
This can have several purposes:
- Visual identity and professionalism. Through this functionality we can insert the company logo into the document to identify its reports and presentations. We can also use it to add the name of the project, the date or other relevant information, and thus give it a very professional final touch.
- Protection of sensitive data. If we use a watermark in Excel with the word “confidential” or another warning message, we alert anyone who views that document that the content must be especially protected.
- Personalization. Sometimes these transparent drawings or text are used simply to improve the aesthetic appearance of the spreadsheet. To give them a creative touch.
- Distinguish versions or states. When we work with several versions of spreadsheets, adding a mark of this type can allow us to know which specific version we are working with or what point that document is at.
- Authorship protection. The main reason why watermarking is usually used on documents is to protect the authorship of the work. Preventing it from being duplicated without identifying its creator.
How to add a watermark in Excel
Unlike what happens with Word, Excel does not have its own integrated functionality that allows us to directly add a watermark. Something that is curious, because protecting the information collected in a spreadsheet, and its authorship, can be especially important.
In any case, that The program does not have this functionality by default It doesn't mean that we can't make use of it. Whye we have the possibility of adding a page header that performs the same function.
To achieve this, we are going to open the Excel document with which we want to work. Now we go to the top of the screen, to click on the menu "Insert" from the toolbar.
Then click on “Header and footer”. Automatically, the spreadsheet presentation changes to “Design view”. In the part of "Header" We include the text that we want to use as a water image. Selecting, if we see it necessary, both a specific font and color. Finally, we adjust the size of the word or words.
Since we want them to operate as a watermark in Excel, the size has to be quite large, since the final result must occupy all or almost the entire page.
Lastly, We place the cursor at the beginning of the word and press Enter as many times as necessary until the text is positioned at the height at which we want it to appear within the spreadsheet.
If we want to add an image instead of one or more words, we can do it exactly the same. But, when we get to the “Header and Footer Tools” menu, we will click on the “Image” icon to add one that we have on our team.
When we have the text or image in the desired place, we click outside the text box and We check that the element that we have added is automatically inserted like a watermark in Excel.
An important fact to keep in mind is that these types of marks are not displayed in the “Normal View” of the document. In order to appreciate its presence we have to go to “Page layout” or “Preview before printing”.
How to remove a watermark
Now that you know how to insert the watermark, you can imagine that removing it is just as simple. It is basically about carrying out the same steps but just the opposite.
If you use the Excel search engine and type “header”, tThe “Header and Footer” menu will immediately appear. Clicking will activate the text box or image in which the watermark is located. Click on it and directly delete the content. When you click outside the text box again, the mark should have disappeared. To check, go to “Preview before printing” or “Page Layout,” and check that nothing is no longer appearing in the background of the spreadsheet.
How to give maximum protection to your Excel workbook
The watermark in Excel is a good way to add extra protection to your spreadsheets. However, as we have seen, Removing it is quick and easy for anyone who has editing access to the document, and this makes it lose a little effectiveness.
In order to improve the security of your documents and that neither the watermark nor any other data can be manipulated without your permission, it is best to protect them with a password. This way, Only authorized people will be able to view and modify the content.
You have to follow these steps:
- Open the book you want to protect.
- follow the route “Review” > “Changes” > “Protect book”.
- In the dialog box that appears, type "Structure".
- Add a password in the specific box for it. Try to choose one that is easy for you to remember and difficult for others to discover.
- Click on "To accept" and retype the password to confirm it. Select again "To accept".
- If you go back to the “Review” tab you can see that the icon “Protect book” is highlighted. This means that the content is now specially protected.
- From that moment on, anyone who does not have the password will not be able to access the spreadsheet or modify its content or the structure of the workbook.
The watermark in Excel is very useful and easy to insert. Don't hesitate to use it to give a more professional touch to your spreadsheets.