Hi Ira,

Yes, it is possible to password protect specific hidden columns in Excel. Here are the steps to do it:

1. First, select the columns that you want to hide. You can do this by clicking on the column header (the letter at the top of the column) for the first column, and then dragging your mouse to select the other columns.
2. Once you have selected the columns, right-click on one of the column headers and choose "Hide" from the context menu. This will hide the selected columns from view.
3. Next, go to the "Review" tab in the Excel ribbon and click on "Protect Sheet".
4. In the "Protect Sheet" dialog box, check the box next to "Protect worksheet and contents of locked cells".
5. Now, click on the "Format" button and uncheck the box next to "Column widths". This will prevent anyone from changing the width of any columns on the sheet.
6. In the "Password to unprotect sheet" field, enter a password of your choice. This will prevent anyone from unprotecting the sheet without the password.
7. Click "OK" to close the "Protect Sheet" dialog box.

Now, the hidden columns will be protected by the password you set. To unhide the columns, you will need to unprotect the sheet using the password.

To password protect a group of non-hidden columns, you can follow the same steps above, but instead of hiding the columns, you can select the cells in the columns that you want to protect and then right-click and choose "Format Cells". In the "Format Cells" dialog box, go to the "Protection" tab and check the box next to "Locked". Then, follow steps 3-7 above to password protect the sheet and prevent anyone from editing the locked cells.