Forum Discussion
Excel password protected - how to unprotect
When I open excel - it tells me that it's password protected though I have tried using online suggestions to unprotect this. It says" >>> Is reserved by... enter password for write access, or open read only" I enter the password and have tried to unprotect by going into file/info/protect workbook. Here I have tried: Encrypt with password - I have deleted the password in here. I have "protect current sheet" the box that pops up says "unprotect sheet", I have put in my password to unprotect the sheet. (each step I try, I save it and close it and open again to see if it is still asking me for my password). I have gone to the tab and right clicked and clicked on Protect sheet, each time a box pops up called unprotect sheet and I enter the password - this also does not change the fact that I still need a password when I open this doc. I need this to be accessible. What can I try?
I have encountered similar problems before. Every time I open an Excel file, it prompts for a password. Although I can enter the password to unlock it, no matter how I try to cancel the protection, it doesn't work, especially the encryption and protection settings of the worksheet seem to have no effect at all. Later, I used Dr-Excel, which really saved my life.
I followed this tutorial and succeed!
https://www.zdnets.com/excel-password-recovery
This tool can directly help you recover the password protection of Excel files, and it is super fast. For my locked file, it took only more than an hour to successfully recover the 6-digit password, and it can be edited freely!
- Go to File, Save As, click the "More options" link. A browser-like dialog appears. Click the Tools dropdown to the left of the Save button and choose "General Options". In the next window, remove all passwords. Click OK, Click Save, click Yes to replace.
Thank you for responding. I tried this and all online suggestions. eventually i just did a save as and renamed it - this solved the issue. It was stuck on this password and would not remove it no matter what. It must have been corrupted.
The save as is the solution for anyone experiencing this issue.
- That is rather unexpected, perhaps you opened the file from a read-only location?
Another possible way to unprotect a password protected Excel worksheet is by using the VBA Macro.
VBA is a programming language developed by Microsoft that is built into most Microsoft Office applications, including Excel. VBA allows users to automate tasks by writing custom scripts, often referred to as macros. In Excel, VBA macros can automate repetitive tasks, manipulate data, and even interact with other applications. You can write macros to perform various tasks, such as unprotecting a worksheet, formatting cells, or even generating reports.
You can use the following VBA code to unlock a Excel worksheet when you forgot Excel password:
Sub PasswordBreaker() Dim i As Integer, j As Integer, k As Integer Dim l As Integer, m As Integer, n As Integer Dim i1 As Integer, i2 As Integer, i3 As Integer Dim i4 As Integer, i5 As Integer, i6 As Integer On Error Resume Next For i = 65 To 66: For j = 65 To 66: For k = 65 To 66 For l = 65 To 66: For m = 65 To 66: For i1 = 65 To 66 For i2 = 65 To 66: For i3 = 65 To 66: For i4 = 65 To 66 For i5 = 65 To 66: For i6 = 65 To 66 ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _ Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & _ Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) If ActiveSheet.ProtectContents = False Then MsgBox "Password is " & Chr(i) & Chr(j) & _ Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & _ Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) Exit Sub End If Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next End SubYou can try to remove Excel password through file permissions. This method is actually quite simple.
First, open your Excel file and enter the password to enter. Then you need to go to File > Info > Protect Workbook > Restrict Permissions to see if there are any restrictions set here. If you see an option like "Restrict Editing" or "Mark as Final", cancel it. After doing this, don't forget to save the file and close it. Open the file again and see if you are prompted to enter the password.
This method is like unlocking the "lock" on the Excel file, and in theory it can solve the problem. Give it a try!
To handle this problem through Google Cloud, the idea is to use Google Sheets to remove Excel password protection. Although this is not the most common method, it does work.
First, you need to upload the Excel file to Google Drive. Then, right-click the file in Google Drive and select "Open with Google Sheets". The advantage of this is that Google Sheets will not check the password protection of your Excel file, and you can view and edit the content directly.
Next, you can download the file again in Excel format. In this way, the new file you get will not be password protected and can be edited and saved freely.
Although this method is not very traditional, it does bypass those difficult password problems and is worth a try.
