Excel

How to Unprotect Excel Workbook without Password?

Forgot Excel sheet password? Unable to open, edit, copy, and access data because the file is protected? Don’t worry, here you will get several ways to unprotect Excel workbook without password, whether the workbook is completely locked or just protected from being copied and edited.

MS Excel provides different levels of password protection to protect your file from being opened, copied, and edited. But most of the time, users forgot Excel sheet password, which becomes a headache. But don’t panic….

This guide explains everything from the meaning of protection to manual techniques to unprotect Excel workbook without password, and a smart solution for successful recovery. Let’s start the guide, one by one:

Password protection is useful for security, but it becomes frustrating when the password is forgotten.

Manual Methods to Unprotect Excel Workbook without Password

Yes, using VBA codes, changing file extension, and using Google Sheets are the manual methods to regain Excel password sheet access. But these methods can’t handle large and strongly encrypted workbooks. So, these techniques will be beneficial to remove normal protections. All manual methods are given below one by one:

Method 1: Using VBA Codes

If your workbook is protected, not encrypted, then VBA code may help to unprotect Excel workbook without password.

1. Open your locked file in Excel.
2. Use “Alt + F11” key to open the editor.
3. Choose the Insert then “Module” option.
4. Use the given VBA code:
   

   Sub UnprotectSheet()

   Dim i As Integer, j As Integer, k As Integer
   Dim l As Integer, m As Integer, n As Integer
   Dim i1 As Integer, i2 As Integer, i3 As Integer
   Dim i4 As Integer, i5 As Integer, i6 As Integer
   Dim Password As String

   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 i1 = 65 To 66
   For i2 = 65 To 66
   For i3 = 65 To 66

   Password = Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _
   Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & _
   Chr(i2) & Chr(i3)

   ActiveSheet.Unprotect Password

   If ActiveSheet.ProtectContents = False Then
   MsgBox “Sheet Unprotected Successfully! Password is: ” & Password
   Exit Sub
   End If

   Next i3
   Next i2
   Next i1
   Next m
   Next l
   Next k
   Next j
   Next i

   MsgBox “Unable to Unprotect Sheet”

   End Sub

5. Finally, use the “F5” key to run the script.

Now macros attempt multiple password combinations to find the correct credentials and unlock the file.

Limitation of VBA Method

• It works mainly with older .xls files.
• May fail on complex passwords
• Technical knowledge required.
• Also, it can corrupt workbook formatting.
• Takes time for large Excel files.

Method 2: Find “Forgot Excel Sheet Password” by Renaming Files

This technique will work for worksheet protection in .xlsx format. Steps are given below to unprotect Excel workbook without password:

1. First, make a backup of your copy.
2. And rename .xlsx to .zip format.
3. Now unzip the zip file.
4. Navigate to xl >> worksheets.
5. Now open all XML files one by one.
6. Find and delete the <sheetProtection> tag.
7. Save the change and rename your file again from .zip to .xlsx format.

Drawbacks:

• Not easy for non-technical users.
• Risk of file corruption.
• It doesn’t work for encrypted files.
• Also, manual XML file editing can damage the structure.

Automatic Solution to Unprotect Excel Workbook without Password

As we suggest, if your workbook is locked with strong encryption, then only the suggested solution can work to find the correct password. It provides 100% guarantee of successful password recovery. It can handle simple to complex structure passwords and can find forgot Excel sheet password with a maximum 15-character password without limitations. This software offers numerous features that are listed below with working steps:

How Does Tool Find the Correct Password to Unlock Excel?

The software has been developed with smart and advanced algorithms, which makes the recovery process. MS Excel installation is required, which helps to read, open, and access important libraries to find the exact password. This tool tries every possible combination based on the provided details until it guesses the right credentials.

Here are the steps on how a user can use it to unprotect Excel workbook without password.

1. Download and start the solution on the system.

   

2. Import your encrypted Excel workbook using the “Browse” icon.

   

3. Now choose “Recovery Mode” according to known details: “Brute Force” and “Mask Attack”.

   

4. Provide known details about the password from here.

   

5. And now, choose the “Recovery” button to start the process to unprotect Excel workbook without password.

   

6. Wait for a while, and the correct password will show on the screen. Use it to find the forgot Excel sheet password.

   

Conclusion

This blog has explained the possible methods to unprotect Excel workbook without password. Users can remove normal password protection using VBA Code and save it as a ZIP format. But for highly encrypted data files, users can go for an automatic solution because manual techniques can’t handle AES encryption to find the password. For any query, you can connect with us.