Forum Discussion
How to unprotect Excel sheet if forgot the password
RuthDelbert For Excel 2007 and later versions, files are saved in an XML-based format. This means you can unzip the file and manually edit the XML files to remove the protection. This method requires some technical knowledge and careful handling of XML files.
How to unprotect Excel sheet without password by editing the internal xml file:
- Change the file extension of the Excel workbook from .xlsx to .zip.
- Extract the contents of the ZIP file to a folder.
- Navigate to the folder and open the xl subfolder.
- Locate the worksheets subfolder and find the XML file corresponding to the protected sheet (e.g., sheet1.xml).
- Open the XML file in a text editor (e.g., Notepad++).
- Search for the tag <sheetProtection> and delete it along with its attributes.
- Save the XML file and close the text editor.
- Compress the folder back into a ZIP file.
- Change the file extension from .zip back to .xlsx.
- Open the modified Excel file, and the sheet should be unprotected.
ToddSumrall Hi, I am trying to follow your instructions to get rid of the password protection on an Excel worksheet, but when I zip the xml file, there are no subfolders for worksheets - it zips the whole workbook. Then when I try to open the workbook in Notepad, it's all symbols and no code I can edit. Do you know a way I can zip just the protected sheet? Thanks for any guidance!
If you upload file to a google drive and share it I can help you unlock it. But if nobody else replies on the chat I can revisit my instructions. Are you a Mac or Windows user?
im trying to follow the instruction, and also i cannot find xl folder. Only one folder name [6] Data Spaces.... im so confused
I think you're reading wrong the instructions. You ZIP a copy of the original XLSX file. The find the "sheet name" that has the password. Delete the <sheetProtection> section. Save the file and rename back to XLSX. If this works OK, then you can keep this as your main file. Save the original just in case.
