Can users store their changes directly to the EXE?

No, users cannot save changes directly into the compiled .exe file. Modifying an executable file after compilation can corrupt it and often triggers false positives from antivirus software.

For this reason, XLS Padlock is designed to save user data to separate encrypted save files (with .xlsc or .xlsce extensions), not back into the main application EXE.

Think of your compiled EXE as the application itself (like Excel.exe), and the save files as the documents it works with.