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Excel Password Remover: How to Remove Passwords on Protected Files

Vanish your password and access your file

4 min. read

Published onOctober 3, 2024

published onOctober 3, 2024

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A lot of people use password protection on their Excel workbooks to safeguard sensitive information but you can sometimes forget this password and need to remove it.

Apart from forgetting your password, some Excel workbooks fail the compatibility test when opened in newer or older versions and with this colliding formats, the password may not work prompting you to remove it to access the file.

How do I force remove a password from an Excel File?

How do I force remove a password from an Excel File?

1. Change file extension

2. Use online tools

With the built-in Windows tools, anything can go wrong especially since you’re deleting codes manually. You risk data loss or your worksheet getting corrupted midway.

YourExcel files may also fail to open in Notepador open back in Excel with all the conversion processes. If you’d like a more seamless process, try one of the online password remover tools.

Password Findis one of the free Excel password removers we found to be efficient. We created an Excel workbook, protected it then copied and pasted it on the site.

The only drawback was that it took a little over seven minutes to unlock the file so if you have lots of files you wish to remove the password to, it can be time-consuming.

If you’re looking to recover your Excel password instead, we have an excellent list ofExcel password recovery tools.

Best password protection techniques

From above, it was relatively easy to remove passwords from the Excel file. This means that one can leverage Microsoft Office’s vulnerabilities and bypass restrictions. Your sensitive and confidential data is therefore not safe if anyone does not adhere to ethical considerations.

We recommendinstalling a password managerif you frequently forget your password and usesecure file sharing tools. Also, create backups of your files and use version history whenever possible to recover files without data loss.

You can alsoremove encryption from your Excel worksheets. And it’s not just your Excel worksheets. We also have ways tounlock your PDF filesin case you forgot your password.

That brings us to the end of this article but do let us know if you have any other useful tips to remove passwords from your Excel files without data loss. Drop us a line below.

More about the topics:Microsoft Excel

Claire Moraa

Windows Software Expert

Claire has a knack for solving problems and improving the quality of life for those around her. She’s driven by rationality, curiosity, and simplicity, and always eager to learn more about Microsoft’s products. With a background in teaching and reviewing, she breaks down complex topics into easily understandable articles, focusing mostly on Windows 11, errors, and software.

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Claire Moraa

Windows Software Expert

With a background in teaching and reviewing, she breaks down complex topics into easily understandable articles, focusing mostly on Windows 11 errors.