Disable Excel password protection via group policy

[ccentre01]

I am trying to disable Excel password protection via group policy to prevent user from saving file with password. After much research, I came across 2 solutions.

By the way, my machine is Win 10 Pro with Office Home and Business 2021. I also downloaded and applied latest administrative template for Office from Microsoft website.

Solution 1
In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Excel > Excel Options > Security
Select "Password to open" and set as "Disabled".
Select "Password to modify" and set as "Disabled"

However, the path found in the group policy is Microsoft Excel 2016 instead of Microsoft Excel.  Under the Excel Options > Security, there is no "Password to open" and "Password to modify"

Solution 2
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft office 2016 > Security Settings
Select "Disable password to open UI" and set as "Enabled"

Based on description, this setting apply to Office 2016. I tried and it does not work for Office 2021.

Is there any other way I can prevent saving Excel file with password via group policy?

[#2]

@ccentre01 

The Group Policy settings you mentioned are specific to Office 2016 and may not be applicable to Office 2021. However, you can try the following alternative approach to prevent users from saving Excel files with passwords via Group Policy:

1. Open the Group Policy Editor by pressing Windows Key + R, then typing gpedit.msc and pressing Enter.
2. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Excel > Save As.
3. Look for the policy setting named "Disable Save As password" and double-click on it.
4. Select "Enabled" to disable the ability to save Excel files with passwords.
5. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Please note that the availability and naming of Group Policy settings can vary depending on your Office version and administrative templates. If the above steps do not match exactly, explore the available policy settings under User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Excel and look for options related to password protection or saving files with passwords.

It is important to ensure that you have the correct administrative templates installed for your Office version. You can download and install the administrative templates specific to Office 2021 from the Microsoft website to access the most up-to-date policy settings.

After applying the Group Policy changes, the users should no longer be able to save Excel files with passwords. Keep in mind that Group Policy changes may require a system restart or a policy update on the client machines for the changes to take effect.