How to Break Password Protection from a Protected Excel Sheet

[@darinhayes6204]

Excellent tutorial. Out of all the videos I have watched, you are the only person that showed how to change the file extension back to an xlsx file after it had been renamed. Thank you!

[@J2DG86]

I've tried it today. I managed to unprotect the excel sheet and manage to see all the formulas in each cell. Really helpful. Great work.

[@sofiejensen3804]

I cant make it work in Office360

[@graythebruceii]

Great video. I tried this same hack by following steps in an article and it corrupted the file. (Yeah, I had a backup.) Then I watched your video and there's a subtle but important difference in your approach. Yours worked just fine. No difficulties at all. (For those interested in specifics: The article had me unzipping the file, making changes, and then re-zipping, rather than surgically implanting doctored copies into the still-zipped file. One gets the impression they saw a video or read about it but never did it themselves, so they just assumed you had to do that unzip/rezip thing and that it wouldn't cause problems. In any case, if anyone's looking at an article that says to unzip the folder and also looking at this video, and you're wondering which one to follow, follow the video.)

[@godwinuche4669]

Honestly there’s something special about your way of teaching. I have watched this unlocking passworded sheet from other channel and learned it but the person never talked about the file extension name because when we save our sheets it doesn’t reflect the xlsx name so I had to find out myself but you just put out this video for the first time and made sure you explained the xlsx part which is why I believe learning from your channel is more easier than any other channel. Even tho I already learned this I knew you would explained it in a baby steps that’s why I never skip any video you put out

[@techteachersandstudents]

Godwin, thanks so much for your kind comment. Thanks for watching my videos!

[@heren18channel77]

yeah its true very clear explanation,. easy to understand thats why i dont have a doubt to subscribe in this channel..more power to this channel

[@lucyv.391]

This is absolutely amazing! I watched few videos before that and they did not have details like you had, so I could not go passed "change extension to zip file". you saved me at least 10 hours of work. Thank you again!

[@spartianonwsu]

you saved hours of work thank you

[@techteachersandstudents]

You're welcome! And thank you so much for your kind gift. I really appreciate it!

[@timgiles6866]

This is soooooo helpful - you've solved a problem that I've suffered with for years - thank you

[@modglosshouz]

Excellent! By far the best tutorial there is about unlocking excel file.

[@TeacherABC]

I just tried it today. Thank you so much it really works! Just to make sure gonna remove until the word scenario> which was not mentioned in the video. Life saver!

[@highcotton63664]

OMG it worked! Sooo happy. My computer gave me the option to put the edited file back into the zip drive and delete the other, so I chose that and it did it for me. I then changed it back to an excel doc and boom, all good. Thanks much!

[@garycline7397]

I had done this before but lost the tutorial. Thanks for sharing it has saved me a lot of grief. The file I was working on had 6 protected sheets that are now all unlocked. Thanks again

[@yvg3228]

Amazing. Watched and read others but this is bar-none the best in teaching, tone, tempo...for a tech novice user! Thank you, thank you!

[@k311ydcart3r]

Wow. You just saved me a ton of work. Your solution worked like a charm, and your explanation was perfect.

[@SabaTef]

Wow I find this months after I gave up trying to remember a password I set on a worksheet. I just opened it using your teaching. Thank you!

[@wandagreer9144]

You are AWESOME! Thanks for all you do! Can you do a video about finding lost files? I have an Excel file that displays a banner notice that a more recent version is available - and I know there is - yet when I click on "restore" I get an error that it does not exist, even tho the file name is in the list of available files. What could have happened and how to access this data and how to fix it? I'd appreciate any help from anyone.

[@naginagrandison2354]

Awesome video, our computer person that we hire at our company told me that it could not be done. I followed through and it worked perfectly. Thank you

[@michaelayoola4198]

I have found this video really helpful in making my work easier. The video demonstrates how to use a workbook with one visible sheet, but I'm not sure how to apply the same techniques to a workbook with an additional two hidden sheets connected to the visible sheet. The visible sheet serves as a summary page for the information on the hidden sheets.

[@Anorak030]

You're the goat of tutorials, thank you so much

[@snakebite396]

Thanks a lot. But in my case what if the VBA is also password protected. When I tried the . zip method the xl folder is not available. Is there any other way to remove the password. Thanks in advance

[@Chachabinks]

I've converted my .xlsx file to .zip. However, whenever I attempt to Open the new .zip folder I get an error message stating: "Windows cannot open the folder. The Compressed (zipped) Folder is invalid." Any suggestions?

[@nhacmottiengkhongquangcao7439]

Same issuse

[@Ameer-e-Pakistan]

It's strange to give your heart to those who are able to reciprocate but ignore those who cannot.

[@jerrystanley3802]

Same Issue

[@aminrezaie6372]

Excellent job. I was struggling on some xls file and just I saved it as xlsx and then did your thing. Thank you very much

[@sezaiturkmen9561]

Simple, articulate, to the point explanation! Thanks

[@brettstevenson947]

Great video. Is there are way to make protection on excel bulletproof so that it cannot be broken other than with one's password?

[@mercicotunav2034]

Best video and best explanation!!! Solved my problem like a charm!!

[@carolgregorovic516]

THIS WAS A GREAT INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO AND SAVED ME HOURS AND HOURS OF WORK!!!!! THANK YOU

[@yo0aiya0ng]

Useful video, especially to show the file types part

[@karolinapakostova4264]

It worked! Thank you! Just finished the task for my interview!:)))

[@anubhutiagrawal6238]

You saved my job. Thanks a lot for this video. Very helpful.

[@skm5974]

Excellent stuff. Worked exactly like it should. Much appreciated

[@BeckyBartram-z3n]

Thank you! That was so clear and I have my worksheet back unprotected.

[@poormanat-work5401]

Thank you very much I just follow your direction and it worked. I’ve been trying to find out how to get my excel sheet up and now I did you just save me a crap load of work.

[@asheshagupta1289]

excellent explanation, thanks for sharing with so much detail and clarity.

[@AliAhmad-zl3if]

Worked wonders, took 10 min, thx!

[@DemetriPanici]

This is extremely helpful! Thank you so much!

[@anissouzerrout8505]

Works like a charm! Thank you!

[@joshuanettleton6210]

Nice. I love that this trick goes into the source code.

[@cadelinaxian]

Very helpful ❤ Thank you so much and God Bless

[@sefayolaydin574]

I appreciate you saved the day!🥳

[@groupproject7421]

Great explanation and video. I highly recommend.

[@Xalzia]

Thanks!

[@techteachersandstudents]

Thank you! Very kind of you.

[@dan23haslin25]

Quick question.. how can you choose which page to unlock if the work book contains multiple tabs [ for eg: 15 tabs] ? thx

[@YoussefTsun]

If your sheets has costumized named, then count the no. of your target sheet and find it due to that

[@loressathompson9812]

This was very helpful. Thanks so much

[@JeffLafrenz]

Excellent tutorial! I was even able to use this method on a Mac using WinZip to look at end extract the sheet.xml data, fixing it and reinsering the corrected xml. Fantastic.

[@UCOKomy7qM4Pq0GWS7RL]

best tutorial ever thanks you SIR

[@SARTHAKTHEMAN]

This is soo better.I can finally unlock my hard working execel

[@taniahermawan]

Hello, when I changed to ZIP and try to open it, it becomes invalid. How to go about it?

[@morarubogdan972]

this is a correct explication. great job. Thank you!

[@Noelito40]

I have just three things to say to you for this video!...thank you, thank you, thank you!!! 👋👋😃😃

[@NikhilKumar_241]

Thanks man ,great 😃👍 million thanks to you 😁

[@ArmadilloGodzilla]

When I try this, I can't open the zip file. It says it's an invalid zip file.

[@arunsikerwar]

same problem , it's not working.

[@rockeye]

Also chiming in with same problem. “Invalid zip file”

[@gavingarmston867]

It's possible your excel file was a .xls, not a .xlsx. It only works with .xlsx, but changing from one to the other is as simple as a save as.

[@wandertrailstruenorth]

Didn’t work for me Either and it’s an .xlsx file

[@beest_]

Open the file in 7zip or another zip program. All the XLSX or docx are open doc formats which are just XML and style sheets.

[@nicholdas]

Thank you bro!! Saved us a huge amount of time and money with this video!

[@naimurhussain5129]

IT REALLY WORKS!! THANKS A LOT

[@patguitarcovers5215]

Didn't work for me. It says, "This archive is either in unknown format or damaged." I reverted the file extension to xlsx and I could still open it in Excel.

[@jokar70]

Hi did you find a solution about your message? I have the same issue.

[@patguitarcovers5215]

@@jokar70 Sadly, no. I gave up on it and just redid the whole thing.

[@harckinwunmyorladohsu]

Sorry about that though

[@5ftofFury]

Oh my Excel - THANK YOU!! I had to do this twice but it worked the second time. Cheers very much for this tutorial :)

[@elmiraalipour6378]

Please accept my deepest thanks. It 'was so helpful ..

[@ATP576]

Very nice man, thanks a lot!

[@YoussefTsun]

For those who found their files shown as corrupted or extension error. Please follow the steps carefully, try not to delete something outside the protection parenthesis. And mostly important, try to return your file extension to its original form. If your file was .xlsm because it had macro in it. Then return it to .xlsm not .xlsx. Good luck. And all thanks to the video publisher

[@mdarif7263]

WOW! Unbelievable! Many thanks Sir.

[@kanadroy7640]

Thank u Sir.... just excellent 👍🏻

[@garyroberts3729]

This worked fantastic!!

[@teodordimitrov6133]

Can I apply this method for a protected module in the developer tab?

[@pasneldoxa]

Thank you!!! You saved my day

[@Cahangir]

Thanks for the useful upload, keep up the good work!

[@nirmalde3912]

My file is working without password. Thanks!

[@AhmadHaidar-o8b]

That's amazing, I am very interested, thank you so much.

[@FarkhodRadzhapov]

LEGEND!!!

[@2Bad2Real]

Worked! Thank you!

[@85MA]

Here's the paragraph rewritten with corrected English: when I opened the ZIP file, I found a file with a Microsoft Edge logo that has an XML format, rather than the expected Excel format. I directly didnt allow me to edit and search for the data but Upon opening this XML file in Notepad, I was unable to find any editable content or protection settings. Could you please explain why this might be the case? Although the origional excel sheet is protected for the cells and some columns even some tabe open are disabled it only allows to enter data that are active only how can i solve this

[@StephenSatire]

Does this also work for xlsx files that are password protected to view?

[@Hopefully2025]

This is a good question, that I would love to know the answer to

[@tweetyhanh9444]

@@Hopefully2025 I tried to test by myself with workbook for xlsx file. There is no options for me to open a files as Notepad. It's automatic to open a file and I search it ..Protection and highlight that line but it won't delete it. Just wonder why?

[@antonis583]

Thank you! Amazing !

[@GarangSamuelChan]

Very great tutorial. I like it

[@astrophilegir23]

It works, thank u 🙌🙌

[@zqtan4092]

Thank you so much for this tip!! However, I have an issue where there is a Sheet 2.xml, but the sheet is hidden when I open the excel file. Is there anyway to unhide it? I tried the VBA method, but its show visible.

[@ranadk1]

Very Nice Work..Just do delete and drag file in zip folder ..bcoz inside of zip folder its not support copy and replace command..Just drag file one by one😊

[@francisdelgadovargas5399]

doesn't work, it says the document is damaged after changing the extension

[@rollonairacoleeneibanez5238]

Thank you very much it helped me a lot!!!!!!!!!!!

[@bartclerx9872]

very useful, thanks!

[@MadalitsoMalinga-r9o]

Excellent sire🎉🎉

[@nadimfaiz]

dear concern,. thank you for this informative video.

[@mariorupflin]

I have a *.xlsb file, which has a sheet and workbook protection. Any guide to remove this?

[@harckinwunmyorladohsu]

Thank you. It really work for me

[@henrikozan9568]

Thank you it works 100%

[@kimberlyshipley1037]

AMAZING! THANK YOUUUUUU

[@awesomefootlights1249]

Thank you so much it really helped me out

[@agneslow4884]

Hi, I couldn't find any "protect" related word to delete when open the xml from notepad. Can advise?

[@faerygoddyss]

Didn't work for me. What happens when you have multiple files in the folder once it is opened (I had 5 additional folders, and 6 files)? Not all of them had the option to open to notepad, some opened within a web browser of coding.

[@deanchild9848]

I get a Windows cannot open the folder after changing extension to ZIP

[@louamato6332]

Worked like a charm after a bit of work to follow your instructions. I found the first step difficult because Windows 11 hides their "File" command for some crazy, unknow reason. Well done, once again and a hearty "thank you"

[@AngelloShongwe]

Thanks for the video. What if my sheet has multiple tabs? Is the process the same? Do we remove the line of code from each sheet or just the first sheet?

[@godwinuche4669]

The particular sheet that is passworded is what you have to delete or backspace like he did. If you have multiple tabs that has no password on them if you open the sheet maybe sheet2 on notepad or wordpad like he did and press ctrl F you will get a pop up that says no search found after you must have typed “protect or protection” this is because you didn’t password it

[@Zagor1913]

Will you be doing some videos about Excel VBA and is it worth learning it??

[@infernousbot6854]

Great video

[@WillievanGraan84]

You are a legend, Ive been through other videos but they did not show me how to unhide the file name so I can change it to ".zip. and then back to .xlxs. your video is by far the best explanation of the whole process. I appreciate you. Im subcribing to your channel. Keep up the great work

[@teoxengineer]

Thank you so much for this great trick. I'm wondering if we could make protection for an excel sheet by using VBA, is your technique valid or not?

[@channabasavaraj8268]

The zip file isn't opening in 7-ZIP or WINRAR, how to open after changed .xlsx to .zip?

[@ReannasVision]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[@stephaniceloso3568]

it works! Thank you!

[@regans.2785]

My man!! Great Video. Thank you!

[@gunnerwilliamson4046]

Excellent thank you

[@TheLadyTripleS]

Hi, I have a question. I can't open my file, because it's not registering that I can open it with excel. I think I used a 3rd party app from a computer from 2010 to protect this excel sheet. How can I go through this process with that being the case for me?

[@qwerty-tz4pe]

Please make more Excel content, especially much more of macro's, powerquery and dashboards.