How to unprotect Excel sheet if forgot the password

VBA scripts and file extension modification methods are only useful for removing basic Excel sheet or workbook protection. These methods cannot unlock the “Password to Open” security type. If the Excel file is protected with strong AES encryption, manual techniques will not work because the encryption is nearly impossible to bypass. In such cases, a professional solution is required to recover the Excel password smoothly and accurately. You may still try Microsoft-recommended solutions like Sys Tools Excel Password Recovery Tool. 

- https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nlvvbs0z8rr

Hi,

This situation is very common in Excel, your data is so precious that you password protect it but forget the password. I will provide a solution through one of my YouTube tutorials, assuming good intentions and legal use only. Here is the short video Tutorial:
https://youtu.be/1r4gZB8jisY

Hope that helps

I successfully saved my Excel document to Google Sheets, which removed the worksheet protection. Then, I saved it back as an Excel file on my desktop.

How do I unlock a Workbook, Worksheet, VBA Project, without a password?

Here, an attempt is made to set these up hierarchically so that the user can distinguish for themselves from the outset which protection they have and which unlocking options and effort are required.

You don't need to change the file extension to zip or arj or whatever.

You can just right click the xlsx file and choose to open it with a ZIP editor.
I use and recommend 7-zip.

Thereafter, the procedure is the same as explained by EdwardGreen and ToddSumrall, i.e.:

1. Find the directory called \xl\worksheets\ and spot the (first) XML file related to the sheet you want to unlock.
2. Right-click the XML file and choose EDIT -> your text editor will open the XML file.
3. Inside the XML file, find the "sheetProtection" tag and entirely delete it (i.e. from the "<" symbol just before "sheetProtection", to the nextcoming ">" symbol, both included).
4. Save the XML file
5. Close the XML file and when prompted, confirm you want to reload the modified xml file into the xlsx archive.

RuthDelbert 

For your information, you can open a worksheet/VBA Project/ etc.  but not a workbook!  

Opening Excel workbooks is almost impossible, even Microsoft informs inform its customers that this is not possible.

There is a “high” probability that you can open a worksheet or a workbook structure but not a locked workbook.

Even if many websites on the Internet report that these files can be opened, this is usually not possible. What these websites are doing is brute force with a mask attack. Most of the time you get a message afterwards that the file cannot be opened and you can insert a new one.

Brute force method just tries all possible combinations of characters and symbols automatically controlled, which also takes a lot of time to find MS Excel password, most of the time it doesn't work.

Opening a workbook is very time-consuming and associated with high resource costs. The only files that could possibly be unlocked are the older types of Excel files.

If I may last recommend, don't let anyone tell you (not even me 🙂 that it's easy and possible, so be careful with the offers you can find on the internet.

Thank you for your understanding & time

RuthDelbert 

I once actually found myself in a situation similar to yours. I had an Excel file with important work data, and I had completely forgotten Excel sheet password I had set. After trying many methods found online, I finally succeeded with a seemingly "hacky" method, which was to modify the ZIP file to unprotect Excel sheet without password.

First, I changed the file extension from .xlsx to .zip, which basically told the computer that the Excel file was actually a compressed file. Then I opened the ZIP file with 7-Zip, or any software that can handle ZIP files.

Inside the ZIP, I found a directory called \xl\worksheets\, which contained several XML files, one for each worksheet. I opened the XML file for the worksheet I needed to edit, using a text editor. Inside the file, I found a <sheetProtection> tag, which seemed to be clearly about protection settings.

I deleted the tag entirely, saved, and closed the XML file. After that, I put all the modified files back into the ZIP file and changed the file extension from .zip back to .xlsx.

When I opened the Excel file, I nervously clicked it and it opened without asking for a password. I was able to access all the data and edit it freely.

Although this method works, I would still recommend using it with caution because it involves modifying the file structure and can damage the file if not done correctly. Also, for password protection, it is best to remember the password or write it down in a safe place in case you need to use this method in the future. Hope this helps!

Ok. Unless you're feeling adventurous and have nothing to lose, I'd advise against using VBA to unprotect Excel sheet password. Instead, try other methods like asking the creator of the file for the password or seeking permission from the relevant authorities.