Skip to content

Lock VBA Project

While your core intellectual property is safely compiled into a DLL, the “VBA Bridge” code remains inside your Office file. The Lock VBA Project tool provides a crucial layer of defense-in-depth by making the VBA Editor interface inaccessible to end-users.

Lock VBA Project tool for protecting source code

🔒 Total Interface Lockdown

Section titled “🔒 Total Interface Lockdown”

This tool is designed to stop curious users from viewing your bridge logic or trying to bypass licensing checks through the VBA Editor.

  • Proprietary Patching: VBA Padlock Studio applies a specialized lock to the Office document’s metadata, far more reliable than standard Excel password protection.

  • Editor Suppression: When a user tries to access the VBA Editor (Alt + F11), they will be met with an “unviewable project” message, completely blocking access to your code.

    Project is unviewable message in the VBA Editor

  • Invisible Glue: By locking the project, your “glue” code—the part that connects the workbook to the secure DLL—becomes a black box.

📂 Format Compatibility

Section titled “📂 Format Compatibility”

VBA Padlock Studio supports a wide array of legacy and modern Office formats for project locking:

Modern Office

.xlsm, .xlam, .docm, .dotm, .pptm, .ppam, .accdb

Legacy Support

.xls, .doc, .ppt, .mdb

🔄 The Lockdown Workflow

Section titled “🔄 The Lockdown Workflow”
  1. Select: Choose the finalized Office document you want to secure.
  2. Backup: Ensure you have a non-locked version of the file saved elsewhere.
  3. Execute: Click Lock VBA Project to apply the security patch.
  4. Test: Open the resulting file and try to access the VBA Editor to confirm the lockdown is active.

See Also

Section titled “See Also”