How to Prevent Users from Printing Excel File with Node.js via C++

Possible Usage Scenarios

In our daily work, there may be important information in an Excel file; in order to protect internal data from being spread, the company may not allow it to be printed. This document explains how to prevent others from printing Excel files.

How to Prevent Users from Printing a 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 the View Code button in the Controls section. Alternatively, you can press ALT + F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.
   
   
   
3. In the left Project Explorer, double‑click ThisWorkbook to open the module, and add the VBA code.
   
   
   
4. Save and close the code, return to the workbook, and now when you try to print the file you will receive a warning box indicating that printing is not allowed.
   
   
   

How to Prevent Users from Printing an Excel File using Aspose.Cells for Node.js via 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. Retrieve the VbaModule object using the name ThisWorkbook.
4. Set the codes property of the VbaModule.
5. Save the file in xlsm format.

const path = require("path");
const AsposeCells = require("aspose.cells.node");

// The path to the documents directory.
const dataDir = path.join(__dirname, "data");
const filePath = path.join(dataDir, "Sample.xlsx");

// Loads the workbook which contains hidden external links
const wb = new AsposeCells.Workbook(filePath);
const modules = wb.getVbaProject().getModules();
modules.get("ThisWorkbook").setCodes(
    "Private Sub Workbook_BeforePrint(Cancel As Boolean)\r\n" +
    "  Cancel = True\r\n" +
    "  MsgBox \"Refusing to print in paperless office\"\r\n" +
    "End Sub\r\n"
);

wb.save("out.xlsm");