How to Remove Password Protection from Your Excel Spreadsheet in 2023

If you have password-protected your Excel workbook or worksheet, there may be situations where you need to remove the password for various reasons, including sharing the file, editing it with unrestricted permissions, and creating a secure backup. Removing password protection is a straightforward process, and in this beginner’s guide, we will provide instructions on how to remove the password or disable Excel’s protection feature.

When working with sensitive information, it is essential to password-protect Excel files. Still, in some cases, the password protection may need to be removed to access the file. Fortunately, Excel provides options for removing password protection.

Method 1: Using Review tab Microsoft office 10 & 13

Using the Review Tab in Microsoft Office 10:

If you are using Microsoft Office 10, you can follow these steps to remove password protection from your Excel file:

• Go to the ‘Review’ tab in the password-protected workbook.
• You can find the passwords tab under the ‘Protection’ section.
• Press the ‘Delete’ key when the “Password to open” dialog box opens.
• Make sure the password protection is removed by saving the changes.

Using the Review Tab in Microsoft Office 13:

For Microsoft Office 13, you can follow these steps to remove password protection from your Excel file:

• Go to the ‘Review’ tab in the password-protected workbook.
• To protect a sheet or a workbook, click on the Protect button.
• By selecting ‘Unprotect Sheet’, you can enter a password to unlock the sheet.
• This should remove the password protection from your workbook.

Method 2: Removing Password Protection Without a Password

If you don’t know the password to open the Excel file, you can still remove password protection using this method:

Step 1: Create a copy of the password-protected Excel file and change the file extension from “.xlsx” to “.zip.”

Step 2: Extract the contents of the zip file into a folder on your computer.

Step 3: Open the folder and find the subfolder called ‘xl.‘ Open it and locate the ‘workbook.xml’ file.

Step 4: Open the ‘workbook.xml’ file using Notepad or any other text editor you prefer.

Step 5: Delete all tags that start with “workbookProtection” (without quotes) from the file.

Step 6: Save and close the document, then go back to the original folder and compress everything into a zip file.

Step 7: Finally, rename your spreadsheet “.xlsx.”

Once you’ve completed all these steps, you can open your Excel file without a password. This method is especially useful for those who have lost or forgotten the password to their Excel file.

Conclusion

Excel’s password protection feature is an excellent security measure for keeping sensitive information safe from prying eyes. However, there may come a time when you need to remove password protection to access the data without restrictions. With the two methods discussed above, you can remove password protection from Excel files quickly and easily. Always remember to protect sensitive information with passwords and remove the password when necessary to maintain your file’s security.