How to Use an Excel Password Remover to Unlock Protected Files

Many users implement password protection on their Excel workbooks to secure sensitive data, but there are instances where you might forget this password and need to remove it.

In addition to forgetting your password, some Excel files may run into compatibility issues when opened in different versions of Excel. These format conflicts can hinder access, necessitating the removal of the password to open the workbook.

How to Force Remove a Password from an Excel File

1. Change the File Extension

1. Right-click on an empty space on your desktop and select New > Folder.
2. Find the Excel file you wish to unlock, then copy and paste it into the newly created folder.
3. Right-click on the file and select Properties, then navigate to the General tab in the dialog that appears.
4. Click on the file extension name, change it to ZIP, and then click the OK button.
5. Right-click on the new ZIP file and select Extract All.
6. Select the extraction location and click the Extract button.
7. Wait for Windows to complete the extraction. Several new folders and files will now appear.
8. Navigate to the xl directory, locate the protected XML file, right-click it, and select Open with > Notepad.
9. Press CTRL + F and search for sheetProtection.
10. Select all attributes within the brackets <>, and hit Delete. <sheetProtection algorithmName="SHA-512"hashValue="o8YQJHtmuaFsZ074zWsq4GdWM/OHVDfJRzOKy5yF9wEnzR/LnodlUUXFq4+F73XLhMI0p6IY8xlSre5hyfY31Q=="saltValue="uOjkpLlBqR3Qr00jLbiGuQ=="spinCount="100000"sheet="1"objects="1"scenarios="1"/>
11. Press Ctrl + S to save the Notepad file.
12. Close the Notepad file and return to the New folder.
13. Right-click on the folder you want to compress, then click Send to and select Compressed (zipped) folder.
14. A new compressed folder will be created in the same location, with the same name as the original file/folder.
15. Finally, change the file extension back to XLSX and the password should be removed from the Excel sheet.

2. Use Online Tools

While the built-in Windows processes are powerful, manually deleting codes can lead to errors, data loss, or even file corruption.

Moreover, some Excel files may not open correctly in Notepad or revert back to Excel after the conversion process. For a simplified experience, consider using online password removal tools.

Password Find is an effective, free online Excel password remover that we have found to work well. After creating a password-protected Excel workbook, we successfully tested it on their site.

The only downside was the time it took—just over seven minutes to unlock our file—so if you have multiple files needing password removal, this may become time-consuming.

For those interested in recovering lost Excel passwords, we also have an exceptional list of Excel password recovery tools available.

Best Password Protection Techniques

The steps above show that removing passwords from an Excel file can be straightforward, exposing vulnerabilities within Microsoft Office that may compromise your confidential data. It’s crucial to practice ethical data management to ensure your information remains secure.

If you often forget your passwords, we recommend utilizing a password manager and secure file-sharing tools. Always keep backups of your files and make use of version history to recover files without risking data loss.

Additionally, consider removing encryption from your Excel worksheets. And remember, this isn’t limited to Excel—there are also methods to unlock PDF files if you encounter similar challenges with password protection.

We hope this article has been helpful! If you have any additional tips for removing passwords from Excel files without losing data, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

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