How to Prevent Users from Printing Excel File with C++

Possible Usage Scenarios

In our daily work, there may be some important information in the Excel file; in order to protect the internal data from spreading, the company will not allow us to print them. This document will tell you how to prevent others from printing Excel files.

How to Prevent Users from Printing File in MS-Excel

You can apply the following VBA code to protect your specific file from being printed.

1. Open the workbook that you don’t want others to print.
2. Select the Developer tab in the Excel ribbon and click on the View Code button in the Controls section. Alternatively, you can hold down the ALT + F11 keys to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
   
   
   
3. Then, in the left Project Explorer, double‑click on ThisWorkbook to open the module and add some VBA code.
   
   
   
4. Then save and close the code, return to the workbook, and when you attempt to print the sample file, printing will be blocked and a warning box will appear:
   
   
   

How to Prevent Users from Printing Excel File using Aspose.Cells for C++

The following sample code illustrates how to prevent users from printing an Excel file:

1. Load the sample file.
2. Get the VbaModuleCollection object from the VbaProject property of the Workbook.
3. Get the VbaModule object via the “ThisWorkbook” name.
4. Set the Codes property of the VbaModule.
5. Save the sample file to xlsm format.

#include <iostream>
#include "Aspose.Cells.h"
using namespace Aspose::Cells;

int main()
{
    Aspose::Cells::Startup();

    // Create workbook from existing Excel file
    Workbook workbook(u"Sample.xlsx");
    
    // Access VBA project modules
    VbaModuleCollection modules = workbook.GetVbaProject().GetModules();

    // Set VBA code for 'ThisWorkbook' module
    modules.Get(u"ThisWorkbook")
           .SetCodes(u"Private Sub Workbook_BeforePrint(Cancel As Boolean)\r\n"
                     u"  Cancel = True\r\n"
                     u"  MsgBox \"Refusing to print in paperless office\"\r\n"
                     u"End Sub\r\n");

    // Save the workbook as macro‑enabled Excel file
    workbook.Save(u"out.xlsm");

    std::cout << "VBA code added and workbook saved successfully!" << std::endl;

    Aspose::Cells::Cleanup();
}