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How to unprotect an excel file. You try to open a spreadsheet you made a few weeks ago, but you just can’t: Excel tells you that the password you typed to open the document is invalid. And, if you don’t provide the correct access key to unlock your file, you won’t be able to open it.
In the following lines, in fact, it will be a pleasure to show you how to carry out the operation in question, taking advantage of a special feature offered by the famous Microsoft spreadsheet program.
How to unprotect an Excel file step by step
If you need unprotect an excel file follow the instructions you will find in the following steps. .To be successful, you just need to take advantage of a special function included in Excel. The thing is feasible both from the PC and from the mobile phone and tablet.
Unprotect an Excel file from your PC
If you are interested in understanding how to unprotect an Excel file on your PC, the first step you should take is to open the program in question on your PC.
Now that you see the main window of the software on the screen, open the document you want to work on by clicking on the item open you find in the left sidebar and then select the file.
Next, you will see a special window on the screen where you will be asked to enter the password set to protect the file. Enter the passwordPress the button accept and ready.
After opening the document, you can remove the password prompt from the file if you wish. To do this, click on the menu files located at the top left of the Excel window, select the item information on the left side of the program screen, click the button Protect the workbook that you find on the right and select the wording Code with password from the menu that opens.
In the additional window that will open, delete the password used to protect the document in the field password and click the button accept, to confirm the changes made. Finally, save the file again by clicking Keep, on the left.
Check out an Excel file from the application
You don’t have your PC handy and you would like to understand how to open password protected spreadsheets using the application Excel for Android and iOS.
So to get started, take your mobile phone or tablet, unlock it, go to the home screen and select the icon of the application of excel.
Then open the file you are interested in by touching the item open located at the bottom of the screen, selecting the position where the document is stored and touch the file name.
After completing the above steps, a screen will open where you will be asked to enter the password used to protect the document: write the appropriate field, touch the button accept and ready.
Regarding the removal of the password required to access the document, I inform you that, unfortunately, Excel for mobile devices does not offer this function.
Check out an Excel file online
If you don’t have Excel installed on your PC, you can open password-protected spreadsheets through the browser, using sheetsGoogle’s equivalent web service.
In this case, however, note that the document cannot be modified, but only displayed. I point out that Microsoft also offers a web version of Excel, but this, unfortunately, does not support opening password-protected files.
That being said, to check out an Excel file onlinelaunch the browser you usually use on your PC to browse the web, go to the home page of Google Drive, the Internet search giant’s cloud storage service, and sign in with your Google account (if applicable). necessary).
Next, drag the password-protected Excel file you want to open into your browser window, or if you’ve already uploaded it online, select it from the list of files in Google Drive.
After doing this, you will see a box appear asking you to type the password used to protect the document. Then enter the key to access the file in the field provided, click the button intro and finally you can see the spreadsheet.
Regarding the possibility of deactivating the request to enter a password to open an Excel file, it is not possible to use Google Calculation Sheets, since, as I said in a few lines above, the service only allows the viewing of documents.
Programs to unprotect Excel files
As I mentioned at the beginning of the guide, if you need to unprotect an Excel file whose password you can’t remember, you can use some programs purposely used for this purpose, thanks to which it is possible to identify the access key to a spreadsheet even if it has been lost.
The software in question works in two different ways: through the attack brute force and by dictionary attack.
In the first case, the program used tries to identify the set password by trying all possible combinations of letters, special characters and numbers, which is particularly effective for hotkeys. While in the second case, lists of passwords that include grades. in special dictionaries, a preferred solution in the case of weak passwords.
However, the success of these tools, keep in mind, essentially depends on the length and complexity of the password set, so I cannot give you absolute certainty that using them you can get the desired result, but, as they say, test doesn’t hurt
VBAScript (Windows)
If the document you’re interested in taking action on can be viewed but not modified, or if it doesn’t require a password at first but has one or more worksheets locked, deleting it doesn’t necessarily require specific software.
use a plain VBA Script in Windows. However, please note that the script works only and exclusively on documents created with Office 2010 and earlier versions.
Once you have made the clarifications mentioned above, proceed to open the Excel file of interest normally, use the key combination. Alt+F11 on the PC keyboard, to remember the editor Visual Basic.
In the window that appears on the screen, double-click the spreadsheet icon in the left sidebar (eg. sheet1 ) and then paste the following script.
Sub PasswordBreaker() ‘Breaks worksheet password protection. 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 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: For i4 = 65 To 66 For i5 = 65 To 66: For i6 = 65 To 66: For n = 32 To 126 ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _ Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & _ Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n) If ActiveSheet.ProtectContents = False Then MsgBox “One usable password is ” & Chr(i) & Chr(j) & _ Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & _ Chr( i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n) Exit Sub End If Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next End Sub
Then click the button play present at the top or press the button F5 on your PC keyboard, wait for the confirmation message to unlock the document, which you can modify as you see fit.
FREE Word and Excel Password Recovery Wizard (Windows)
Another tool you can use to unprotect an Excel file is FREE Word and Excel Password Recovery Wizard.
It is a software, free and only for Windows operating systems, thanks to which it is possible to find the password used to preserve the opening of Excel sheets. However, it should be noted that it cannot recover passwords of more than 8 characters and that it allows intervention only on spreadsheets made with Office editions older than 2007 (so in XLS format and not XLSX).
To download the program to your PC, go to its official website and click on the link Download FREE Word and Excel Password Recovery Wizard ___x (xx Mb) placed in the center.
When the download is complete, extract from the folder the ZIP file obtained, start the .exe file present on it, and in the window that is displayed to you on the desktop, click the button Yeah.
Then click the button followingcheck the box next to the article I accept the agreement and click the button again following (four consecutive times). Finish the configuration by clicking the buttons install and finish.
Now that you see the software window on the screen, first click on the button following and then on the button Browseto select the Excel file to unlock.
Click the button again following (four consecutive times) and start the password identification procedure by pressing the button Go.
When the password is found (the brute force attack tries all possible combinations of characters and this operation can take a long time), it will be displayed in an additional window.
If you are sure of the fact that the password of the excel file that you want to act on is made up of English words of meaning, then you can also try to locate it by going to the section select focus program, by clicking on the appropriate item below.
Then press the button brute force attackto select the English dictionary file to be used and click the buttons following and Goto start the recovery procedure.
Passware Excel Key (Windows)
If you need to work on Excel files created with Post-2007 versions of Office or, in any case, as an alternative to the solutions that I have already indicated in the previous lines, I suggest that you use Passel Excel Keyother specifically designed software.
It is only for Windows operating systems and is paid (full version is $39 while unlocking individual files is $19), but you can download a free trial version with which you can find the first three letters of the passwords.
To download the program on your PC, go to its website and click on the button Download free demo that you find in the center. Once the download is complete, open the .exe file obtained and, in the window that you see on the screen, click on the button following.
Then check the box next to the article I accept the terms of the License Agreement and click the buttons following (for two consecutive times), install, Yeah and finishto finish the configuration.
Now that you see the main window of the software on the desktop, click on the button find file located on the right and select the Excel file that you are interested in intervening. Next, click the appropriate buttons to define whether you want to use the default setting for password identification ( Use predefined settings ) or if you start the guided procedure to choose the correct attack method and the dictionaries to use ( run wizard ).
Then wait for the password identification process to complete. If the password is found, you will be prompted on the screen.
