How to Unprotect an Excel Sheet

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: August 9, 2023 Fact Checked

Do you need to view or edit a protected Excel worksheet? If the sheet is locked with a password and you're not sure what it is, you can easily use Google Sheets or a VBA script (in earlier versions of Excel) to remove the password. This wikiHow article will show you how to unlock a protected Excel spreadsheet with or without the password. If your entire Excel workbook is password-protected and you can't open it, you'll need to unlock the file first.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Using Microsoft Excel

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Open the workbook with a protected sheet in Microsoft Excel. You can usually do this by double-clicking the file's name on your computer.
2
Right-click the tab for the protected sheet. Each sheet's tab appears along the bottom of Excel. The protected sheet often has a padlock icon in some versions of Excel. Right-click the tab (or the lock icon) to open the context menu.^{[1]
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- If multiple sheets are protected, you'll need to remove protection on each sheet separately.
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If the sheet is not password-protected, it will unlock immediately. If not, you'll be prompted to enter a password into a pop-up window.^{[2]
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4
Enter the password and click OK. If the password is correct, the sheet will become unprotected.^{[3]
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- If you don't know the password, see the Using Google Sheets method. This method lets you upload the file to Google Sheets, which removes all protections added in Excel.
- If you're using Excel 2010 or earlier and prefer not to upload to Google Sheets, see the Using VBA Code in Excel 2010 and Earlier method.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Uploading to Google Sheets

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1
Go to https://drive.google.com in a web browser. If you have a Google account, you can use Google Sheets (a free online app that's similar to Excel) to remove protection from all sheets in a workbook—even if you don't know the password.^{[4]
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- If you're not already signed into your Google account, follow the on-screen instructions to sign in now.
- If you don't have a Google account, see How to Make a Google Account.
It's at the top-left corner of the page.
This opens your computer's Open panel.
This uploads the file to your Google Drive.
You'll probably have to scroll down to find it. This opens a preview of the file.
It's at the top of the preview. A menu will expand.
Now that the file is open for editing in Google Sheets, any sheet protections added in Excel have been removed.
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Re-download the file to your computer. If you want to keep working on the file in Microsoft Excel rather than Google Sheets, you can download this newly-unprotected version of your workbook using the following steps:
- Click the File menu at the top-left corner of your sheet.
- Click Download As.
- Click Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) .
- Select a folder to save the file. If you want to keep the original version of the file (the one with a protected sheet) intact, type a new name for the file as well.
- Click Save to download the file.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Using an Online Service

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To get the whole file, you'll need to enter a license key.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Using VBA Code in Excel 2010 and Earlier

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1
Open the workbook that has a protected sheet in Excel. You can usually do this by double-clicking the file's name on your computer. Excel files usually end with the file extension .xls or .xlsx.
- Use this method if you have already tried unlocking a sheet but found that it's password-protected (and you don't know the password).
- This method will not work in Excel 2013 or later.
2
Re-save the file in the xls format. If the file you're working on has the ".xlsx" extension (common if it was created or edited in newer versions of Excel), you'll only be able to use this method if you first convert it to the Excel 97-2003 (.xls) format. Here's how to do this:
- Click the File menu at the top-right corner.
- Click Save As.
- Go to the folder in which you want to save the file.
- Select Excel 97-2003 (.xls) from the "Save as type" or "File Format" menu.
- Click Save.
It's at the top of the left panel. Make sure you right-click the option that contains the file's name (ends with ".xls"), which should be at the top. A menu will expand.
Another menu will expand.
This inserts a new module in which you'll paste some code.

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Copy the code. Highlight the code that follows this text, then press Ctrl+C (PC) or ⌘ Command+C to copy it:^{[5]
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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 "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

The copied code now appears in the module window.
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Press F5 to run the code. Excel will now run the code, which can take several minutes. Once the code is finished running, a new password will appear on a pop-up window.^{[6]
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- The new password will be a random number of "As" rather than the original password.
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Click OK on the Password pop-up. A new password will appear but you won't need to write it down. Clicking OK will remove sheet protection automatically.^{[7]
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- If you had to convert the file to an earlier format, you can now save the workbook again as an .xlsx file.

Community Q&A

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Question

What if I forgot the password to the document?

Community Answer

Try to use method 2 above (Uploading to Google Sheets). The downloaded Excel sheet from Google Sheets will be unprotected, so no password is needed.

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Question

The Google sheet method is not working.

Margot Fontenaut

Community Answer

It won't work for a password to open the document, but it works fine for passwords restricting shared access. If you can open your file, but can't edit it, this method will work. If you can't open you file without entering password, it won't work. In such case you will need to use password cracking tools like Password-find, Rixler password cracker, Password recovery lastic to remove protection from your file. It's impossible to restore or bypass a password to open the document without special software.

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Question

I received Compile error Syntax error.

Margot Fontenaut

Community Answer

You need to delete the phrase Breaks worksheet password protection. Compiler don't understand it and there you have the compile error cause of the syntax error. If VBA code is not your thing, you can use password removal apps like Password-find or Password Lastic to remove the password from your sheet.

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Thank you for your feedback.
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