Excel worksheet password helps to prevent unauthorized users from modifying the original document. You can read the contents, but you can not modify the data not unless you have the password. The problem is most people tend to forget passwords easily. If you have lost your Excel worksheet Password, don’t panic, as you can recover it or remove it using various techniques.
In this tutorial, I will guide you on how you can unprotect an Excel worksheet without a password.
Five ways to unprotect Excel Worksheet without Password
Here are the best ways to unprotect Excel Worksheet without a password.
1. Unprotect Excel worksheet Using Google Sheets
This method is useful for documents marked as final (Read Only)
Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet software. If you forgot your Excel Password, you can import the data to Google Sheets and then download it as Excel File without a password. Note that the Google sheets method helps to remove password protection from Read Only files. These are files where the worksheets have been protected by password rather than the whole workbook. If you are looking to remove passwords from a whole workbook, try another method discussed in this article.
Follow these simple steps.
Steps
1. Launch Google Sheets by visiting this link
2. Click on the plus Icon to launch a blank Google Sheets document.
3. Next, click on the file tab then, followed by the import
3. Click on the upload tab. Here you can drag and drop the protected Excel File or Click the blue browse button to upload it from your computer.
4. Select import data from the pop-up that shows up
5. Navigate to the protected sheet and begin editing
6. Click on File > Download, then choose Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)
7. Click on the downloaded Excel File to open it. The downloaded file does not have password protection, which means you can edit any sheet without requiring a password.
You cannot edit read-only Excel Sheets without a password. This is where Google sheets come in handy. You can import the data on a blank spreadsheet and then download it as Microsoft Excel, and it will not require any password.
2. Use VBA code to unprotect Excel Worksheet without a password
VBA is the abbreviation of Visual Basic Application. This is a feature inside Microsoft Excel that allows users to write and run code that performs more complex tasks. You can use VBA to remove passwords from Encrypted Excel files. Follow these simple steps
1. Open the protected Excel file
2. Navigate to the developer tab and click on it.
3. Under the developer tab, click on Visual basic. Alternatively, you can click alt+f11 to launch the VBA console.
4. After clicking on the Visual Basic Icon, a new window will be launched. Click on Insert, then select new module.
5. Now paste the following VBA code and click ctrl+s
Sub PasswordRemover() Dim j As Integer, k As Integer, l As Integer Dim m As Integer, n As Integer, o As Integer Dim x1 As Integer, x2 As Integer, x3 As Integer Dim x4 As Integer, x5 As Integer, x6 As Integer On Error Resume Next 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: For j1 = 65 To 66 For j2 = 65 To 66: For j3 = 65 To 66: For j4 = 65 To 66 For j5 = 65 To 66: For j6 = 65 To 66: For o = 32 To 126 ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(j) & Chr(k) & Chr(l) & _ Chr(m) & Chr(n) & Chr(j1) & Chr(j2) & Chr(j3) & _ Chr(j4) & Chr(j5) & Chr(j6) & Chr(o) If ActiveSheet.ProtectContents = False Then MsgBox "Password is " & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _ Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(n) & Chr(j1) & Chr(j2) & _ Chr(j3) & Chr(j4) & Chr(j5) & Chr(j6) & Chr(o) Exit Sub End If Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next End Sub
6. After clicking ctrl+s, you will get a prompt asking you to save the workbook as macro enabled. Click yes
7. Now navigate to the developer tab once more and click on Macros
8. A Macro pop-up window will show up.
9. Click Run on the Macro Named as PasswordRemover
10. Depending on your PC power, it may take a short time or a long time. On a more powerful PC the process will be instant, while in a slow computer, it may take a while. This is because the VBA code tries different combinations of passwords until it gets yours right.
11. A message box will pop up showing the password of the sheet. However, you don’t have to remember the password anymore as the VBA code has removed it.
12. Now, you can go ahead to edit the Excel Worksheet.
3. Remove Excel Password Protection by changing the file extension
You can change the Excel file extension from .xlsx to .zip and edit some code to get rid of the sheet protection. Follow these simple steps
1. Open File manage location where the excel sheet is located and create a copy of your document for backup
2. Right-click on the copy file and choose rename. Now change the extension from .xlsx/.xlsm to .zip
3. A pop-up will ask you to confirm the changes. Click on yes
4. Extract the zipped folder, then open the folder named ‘xl’
5. Now open the folder labeled as worksheets
6. In this folder, you will find all the worksheets associated with your workbook. These worksheets are in .xml format. Click on the password-protected worksheet and open it using a text editor such as a notepad.
7. Once you open the protected sheet using notepad, click on the format then select word wrap
8. Launch the Find feature by clicking the ctrl+F key
9. In the find what bar, type protection and click on find next
10. Doing so will highlight the word protection inside a document. Close the find window
11. Delete the line <sheetProtection> line
12. Click on ctrl+s to save the file.
13. Copy the XML file that you have just edited and copy and paste it into the zipped folder to replace the existing XML file
14. Now, change the extension of the Zipped folder back to Xlsm or Xlsx.
15. Lastly double click on the file to open using Excel
16. Now, you can edit the previously protected sheet without a password.
That’s how to unprotect Excel Worksheet without a password. Note that in this method, you do not recover the password but bypass the password. You can protect your worksheet again with a new password.
4. Use the Copy and Paste method
If a sheet is protected and wishes to make changes, you can copy and paste it into another sheet and edit it without needing the password. Follow these simple steps.
1. Open the Protect Excel sheet and click on cell A1
2. On your keyboard, press the shift + ctrl + end keys all at once. This will select all the used cells in the protected sheet.
3. Click on Ctrl+c to copy all the highlighted cells
4. Create a new worksheet by clicking on the plus icon at the bottom
5. Click on cell A1 in the new sheet and click ctrl + v
6. Now, you can edit the contents of the new spreadsheet.
IMPORTANT! This method works if the protected sheet allows the user to select the locked sheet. If your protected sheet does not allow you to select the cells, you need to consider using the other options discussed above.
Similar Read: How to remove Excel Workbook Encryption without Password
5. Use an Online tool to remove Excel Password Protection without a Password
Looking for a quick way to unprotect a protected sheet? You can use an online tool to unprotect an Excel sheet without a password. There are many online tools that you can use to un-protect or recover the password. For example, you can use this popular tool.
LostmyPass
Lost my pass is an online password recovery application. It allows users to unprotect or recover passwords for various file formats such as PDF, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Additionally, it allows users to recover passwords for Archives such as Zip, Rar, and 7z.
Its free to use the tool to recover weak passwords. However, for more complex passwords, you need to pay.
Follow these simple steps
1. Visit the official lostmyPass website
2. Tick the box to confirm you are not a robot
3. Drag and drop or browse your files to upload the protected file
4. Once the file is uploaded,, the process begins automatically.
5. Click on the blue button to download your unprotected file
Final Thoughts
A protected worksheet limits users from making changes not unless they have a password. Sometimes you may forget or lose your Excel password. In this case,, you will have to recover it or unlock the document using other means. You can use VBA code to recover, use Google Sheets to bypass the password, or use the copy-paste method. Lastly, you can use a third party online service to recover your lost Excel worksheet password.
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