Forum Discussion
How to unprotect Excel sheet if forgot the password
I found this post from search engine and tried a couple of answers shared by others in this thread. However,
most of them were not working. Fortunately, I recovered the password successfully thanks to the reply made
by LindaHamilto.https://www.softfixnow.com/how-to-unprotect-excel-sheet
P.S. for strong open password, you have to wait sometime to finally retrieve the password and unprotect the
sheet afterwards.
I have also been in a situation where I forgot Excel password of an Excel file. At that time, I used a simple VBA script to try to unprotect Excel worksheet. The basic steps are as follows:
- Open the Excel file: First, open the file you need to unlock.
- Launch the VBA Editor: Press Alt + F11 keys in Excel, which will open the VBA Editor.
- Insert a new module: In the VBA Editor, right-click on "VBAProject" on the left, select "Insert", and then select "Module".
- Copy and paste the code: Paste a VBA code for cracking the password in the new module. This code will try various password combinations until it finds the correct password.
5. This code will try some simple passwords (such as "1234", "password", "0000") and tell you which one is the correct password. Of course, you may need to try more combinations in actual use.
6. Run the script: In the VBA editor, press F5 to run the script. If the password is simple, this method may successfully unlock it.
This method is more suitable for situations where the password is not particularly complex. If the password is very complex, it may take more time or a more complex script to try. I hope this simplified method can help you!