Hey everyone,
I’m working on a Google Sheets project and I’ve run into a bit of a snag. I’ve got an Apps Script that relies on specific sheet names, but I need to let my team edit the contents. Is there a way to lock down just the tab names while keeping everything else open for editing?
I know about the option to protect entire sheets, but that’s not quite what I’m after. I want to make sure no one accidentally changes the names of the tabs, as it would mess up my script. But I still need my team to be able to work on the data inside.
Has anyone found a good way to do this? I’d really appreciate any tips or workarounds you might have. Thanks in advance for your help!
hey there, SkippingLeaf! i’ve dealt with this before. one trick is to use a script that monitors sheet names and reverts any changes. it’s not perfect, but it works pretty well. just make sure to tell ur team about it so they don’t get confused when renaming doesn’t stick. good luck with ur project!
I’ve encountered this issue before, and there’s a workaround that might help. While Google Sheets doesn’t have a built-in feature to lock just the sheet names, you can use Apps Script to create a custom solution. Here’s what I did:
I wrote a simple trigger function that runs whenever the spreadsheet is edited. This function checks if any sheet names have been changed. If a change is detected, it immediately reverts the name back to its original.
To implement this, you’ll need to store the original sheet names somewhere (perhaps in a hidden sheet or script properties) and compare against those. It’s not foolproof, as there’s a brief moment where the name could be different, but it effectively prevents lasting changes.
Remember to inform your team about this setup to avoid confusion. They might try to rename a sheet and wonder why it’s not working.
I’ve faced similar challenges with my team projects. One approach that’s worked well for us is combining a bit of technical solution with clear communication. We set up a simple script that checks sheet names periodically and alerts us if any changes are detected. This way, we catch accidental renames quickly.
But the real key was setting clear guidelines for the team. We created a ‘read-me’ tab in the sheet explaining why the names can’t be changed and how it affects our scripts. We also color-coded the tabs that were ‘locked’ to make it visually clear.
For extra measure, we added a note to each tab name using the setTabColor() method in Apps Script. This makes the names stand out and serves as a visual reminder not to touch them.
It’s not foolproof, but it’s drastically reduced accidental changes while keeping the sheets fully editable. Hope this helps!