Lock the rows in Smartsheet to prevent edits after a ticket is marked complete.

Sanjay’s ticket board was humming along nicely—until that inevitable moment when a row marked “Complete” suddenly became a playground for edits. If someone updates a completed ticket, the data can lose its clarity: what was done, when, and by whom can drift away from the truth. In teams that juggle lots of tasks, that kind of drift is more than annoying—it can ripple into sprint delays, misaligned expectations, and messy reporting. So, what’s the cleanest way to keep completed work stable without slowing down the whole team?

Let’s start with the four common approaches you might hear about, and why one of them stands out for this particular problem.

What are the four routes, and why do they fall short?

• A. Change the permission levels

This sounds sensible. If you tighten who can edit, you shrink your risk. But it’s a blunt instrument. It can block people from doing real, necessary updates elsewhere in the sheet, and it doesn’t specifically target the problem of edits on rows that are already marked complete. The moment someone with the right access slides in to tweak a row, there’s still a chance the history or status gets muddled.

• B. Lock the rows

This is the hero move. Locking a row makes it read-only for most users. If a row is locked, only someone with unlocking privileges can change it. The entire row becomes a beacon of truth: its content remains intact, its completion status stays visible, and the record’s integrity is preserved. In fast-moving teams, this feels like a safety net you can rely on.

• C. Hide the completion column

Hiding a column is a stealthy approach. It prevents people from seeing that a ticket is finished, which can reduce the urge to tinker. But it doesn’t stop edits; it only masks the signal. If someone still edits the row, the data can still become inconsistent. Hiding is more about perception than actual protection.

• D. Archive the completed tickets

Archiving moves completed work out of the active view. It’s great for organization and long-term storage. But it doesn’t stop edits on rows that remain in the active sheet, and it doesn’t help if someone needs to reference a completed task in the current workflow. It’s a tidy solution for clutter, not a guardrail for data integrity.

Now, the clear winner here is B—Lock the rows. It’s simple, precise, and targeted. It protects the parts of your sheet that actually need protection, without cutting off collaboration where it matters. Let me explain why this approach makes sense in practice.

Why locking rows is the cleanest fix

• It creates a true read-only state for completed work

When you lock a row, you’re not just hiding a signal or restricting broad access. You’re turning that line into a locked-in snapshot. No one can alter the details lurking in that row unless they have explicit permission to unlock it. That keeps a reliable record of what happened and when.

• It preserves the audit trail without extra gymnastics

Smartsheet tracks changes, sure, but knowing a row is locked adds an extra layer of confidence. You don’t have to chase edits after the fact or second-guess what was changed. The history stays intact, and the completed work remains sacrosanct.

• It scales with your governance needs

In growing teams, you don’t want to micromanage every move. Locking rows gives you a scalable policy that protects critical data points while letting active work move forward without friction. If you need a quick exception, admins can unlock the row—no wholesale changes to sheet permissions required.

• It’s less disruptive to collaboration

People can continue updating open tickets, adding new items, or adjusting estimates in real time. The moment a task is done, the relevant row simply becomes locked. That minimizes accidental edits and reduces the “oops” moments that slow a project down.

• It’s intuitive and low-friction

The action is straightforward: select the completed row(s), apply Lock. It’s a one-step safeguard, with a clear visual cue (a lock icon) that tells everyone, at a glance, which rows are protected.

A practical how-to, without the fluff

If you’re in a Smartsheet environment and you want a reliable way to keep completed work stable, here’s a practical path you can follow. You don’t need a complicated setup—just a clean, repeatable process.

• Identify the rows that are truly complete

Before you lock anything, verify that the status is final. A quick check keeps you from locking something that might still need a tweak.

• Lock the completed rows

Select the rows, then use your sheet’s row actions to Lock Rows. If you’re using a shared environment, make sure you understand who has the permission to unlock—usually admins or the sheet owner.

• Communicate the policy

A short note to the team helps. “Completed tickets are locked to preserve data integrity. If you need to adjust something, contact the admin.” Clear expectations prevent confusion and resistance.

• Consider a controlled unlock process

If a mistake slips through or a change is genuinely needed, have a simple unlock workflow. It could be a quick request to the admin or a temporary permission change for the handful of rows in question. The key is to keep it auditable and purposeful.

• Review and adjust as needed

Every few weeks, take a moment to confirm the policy still fits your flow. Maybe some completed tickets don’t actually need protection, or perhaps you’ve got new project types that demand a slightly different approach.

A few natural clarifications

• Is locking the rows the same as making the entire sheet read-only? Not at all. You can still edit open tickets and new work can continue unimpeded. Locking is focused, precise protection for finished work.

• Can anyone unlock a locked row? Not automatically. Typically, unlocking is governed by permissions. If your team structure gives some people unlock rights, they can un-lock specific rows when needed. If you want tighter control, designate a small group of admins for this.

• Might locking feel heavy-handed? Sometimes yes. If your workflow rarely has late edits on completed work, you might start with a lighter touch—like hiding the completion signal or archiving old rows. The goal is to strike the right balance between protection and agility.

When it helps to see the idea in action

Imagine a product sprint where a dozen tickets flow through discovery, design, and QA. Once a ticket reaches “Complete,” the team can still scroll through the board to pull metrics for a dashboard, but no one can alter the record of what was done. The product owner can report with confidence, stakeholders see consistent progress, and the sprint review gets a crisp, accurate narrative. The moment someone tries to tweak a done ticket, the lock stops them in their tracks. That’s not rigidity—that’s reliability.

A quick note on related habits that matter

• Visual signals matter

A locked row should be instantly recognizable. The padlock icon or a distinct color helps people distinguish finished work from active tasks at a glance. We’re not just adding friction for the sake of it—we’re creating clarity.

• Context matters

Some teams keep a separate “Completed” view or a filtered dashboard. If you do this, you still want the underlying data to be protected. Locking rows in the main sheet gives you the best of both worlds: a clean ongoing board and a trustworthy archive of completed work.

• It’s about trust as much as control

When team members trust the data, they move faster. Locking the right things reinforces that trust without making people feel micromanaged.

Bringing it all together

Sanjay faces a common dilemma: keep the workflow responsive and collaborative, while preserving the integrity of completed work. The most straightforward, dependable fix is to lock the rows that represent finished tasks. It’s a targeted protection that minimizes risk, preserves history, and keeps everyone honest about what happened and when. It’s not about blocking work; it’s about safeguarding the record so future decisions aren’t built on shaky ground.

If you’re weighing options, think about what would happen if a completed ticket were edited after the fact. Would that change the story you tell about the project? If the answer is yes, locking those rows is worth trying. It’s a small, deliberate step with a big payoff: fewer surprises, clearer reporting, and a smoother path from kickoff to close.

In the end, the right guardrail isn’t a heavy-handed rule. It’s a practical, reliable feature in Smartsheet that quietly keeps your team moving forward with confidence. And that calm clarity—well, that’s something everyone can appreciate.