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5for17's avatar
5for17
Copper Contributor
Apr 16, 2026

Forgot Excel Password

Hi how can i recover an excel workbook where I have forgotten the password?
excel
carlwi3a's avatar
carlwi3a
Copper Contributor
Apr 17, 2026

If you are able to download the Excel file, you can remove the password.

  1. Download a copy of the Excel file.
  2. Rename your .xlsx (or .xlsm) file to .zip.
  3. Extract/unzip it.
  4. Go to the xl/worksheets/ folder.
  5. Open the relevant sheetN.xml file in a text editor (Notepad++, VS Code, etc.).
  6. Search for sheetProtection.
  7. Delete the whole tag (it looks something like <sheetProtection algorithmName="..." password="..." ... /> or with hashValue/saltValue).

    • If the password protects the workbook structure (not an individual sheet), then the file is xl/workbook.xml and you delete the entire tag using the exact same process.

  8. Save the file.
  9. Zip the entire folder, not the contents.
  10. Rename the .zip back to .xlsx.
  11. Open in Excel and enjoy.