Forum Discussion
Reeseig
Jul 21, 2026Copper Contributor
Best Excel password remover for Mac as I forgot Excel password
I set a password on an important Excel spreadsheet a while back on my mac and completely forgot what it was. The file has data that's urgently needed and there's no unprotected backup copy saved anyw...
JaredAlvarez
Jul 21, 2026Iron Contributor
For some older Excel files on Mac, a VBA macro can be used to remove worksheet protection when the file can be opened but editing is blocked. This method is mainly intended for older Excel versions and can help users who need to remove password from excel on mac when dealing with simple sheet protection.
Open the Excel file, then press Option + F11 to launch the VBA editor. Select Insert → Module, paste the following code, and press F5 to run the macro.
Sub UnprotectSheet()
Dim i As Long, j As Long, k As Long
Dim l As Long, m As Long, n As Long
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 n = 65 To 66
ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _
Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(n)
Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
MsgBox "Protection removed (or already removed)"
End SubAfter the macro finishes, the sheet protection may be removed if the file uses an older protection method. This approach can be useful when trying to remove password from excel on mac for legacy Excel documents, but it does not work reliably with newer Excel encryption systems.