How to Remove Different Excel Passwords (Quick & Easy)

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

❓Ever lost access to your Excel file? Share your story. Learn Excel with my courses: bit.ly/password22courses

[@christopherpanford7584]

This was super helpful. My accountant left a couple of months ago and when I recruited a new one, we realised that our entire books were protected. We have been struggling to get it unprotected for weeks, and within 10mins your video has done the magic. Thank you.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Wonderful to hear!

[@pw4721]

After looking at numerous 'How to' videos this is the first one that really work to remove sheet/workbook protection. Very clear and straightforward video.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it helped!

[@terrycathie115]

The zip file worked for me and I can’t thank you enough. A great deal of work had gone into the spreadsheet and I was pretty upset with myself. Thanks again 👍😊

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

So pleased to hear that!

[@EliotPowell]

incredibly helpful. I have seen other videos explaining these techniques, but yours is the clearest and simplest to follow. well done!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Awesome, thank you, Eliot!

[@caongoc1204]

@@MyOnlineTrainingHub Can you help me remove excel password? I forgot pass

[@waynegill2613]

Such a simple video to follow but it saved me so much work! Thank you!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Awesome to hear 😊

[@MsChampohsan]

Wonderful tips! Its kinda suffering when I forgot the password that I have set. Thank you! Incredible video ever!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad you liked it 🙏

[@bjbrooks]

Fascinating video, thank you. And for the tip on the safest way to protect a workbook. (One observation: a couple of times you refer to opening the xlsx in a "browser", which confused me a little until I realised you were referring to File Explorer)

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

👍

[@will5470]

thank you for this resource! saved me a few hours of recreating a sales document.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad I could help!

[@Vandalfoe]

Good stuff as usual. I agree this isn't super-spy level protection, but in my opinion it does the job of preventing users (who don't Excel) from typing numbers over your formulas because they're not using the spreadsheet properly. 👍

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Yes, exactly that 😊

[@SandroLimaj]

To whoever is struggling because the zip file seems broken and can't open it: you're probably working on a xls file. The file needs to be XLSX. Open the file, save as XLSX file. Now you can rename the new xlsx file, changing its extension to ZIP, and open it. Idk why it works, it just worked for me. Cheers

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Wow! You still use .xls files. They went out with Excel 2003 😉 Thanks for sharing your tip.

[@SandroLimaj]

@@MyOnlineTrainingHub hahahahah not by choice I swear. I work on what I've been given. Thanks for the video and have a good day!

[@abhishekmor]

How would you open it if its password protected ?

[@SandroLimaj]

@@abhishekmor we're talking about excel files that have single sheets protected by passwords

[@abhishekmor]

@@SandroLimaj OK is there a way to open protected excels workbooks ?

[@srinivasmuthukumar4979]

Saved my day. Thank you very much.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You're welcome! Glad I could help.

[@traciedwards7449]

LIFE SAVER!!!!! Yes I'm using my new skills for the greater good 😀 Thank you so much for the tutorial for this!!!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Awesome to hear!

[@shiffamohammed5818]

Many thanks Mynda, for sharing a video that clearly explains password unprotecting under various situations in excel.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

My pleasure, Shiffa!

[@adammaamoun1]

Thank you, it helped a lot. It is important to save a copy of the xml file we are editing because I messed up multiple times since I was not using Notepad ++ and didn't know when the workbookprotection and sheetprotection statements ended. Yes, your instructions were used for legal process to unprotect an excel file I forgot its password.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Great to hear!

[@nadermounir8228]

Thank u for this video 📹. How did u open the XML in one note ?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

I'm using Notepad ++, not OneNote.

[@notesfromleisa-land]

I recently had to use the zip file technique to fix a workbook that would not save as I was getting corrupted and repairs so extensive msgs that make you weep as tons of time in the workbook creation. Removing a bin file using the zip technique saved the day. Here is yet another way to slice and dice. As always great vid content perfectly presented

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@noahmayorestor8459]

Wow, its really great to find this video that makes me back to my work. Thank you.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it was helpful!

[@darrylmorgan]

Hi Mynda!Super Helpful And Clear Explanations...Thank You :)

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Great to hear, Darryl!

[@garygarland9366]

Worked a treat - THANK YOU!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Awesome to hear 👍

[@soc5830]

Hello Ma'am, thank you for taking the time making this video. I'm getting a prompt when trying to open the zip. "copy.zip is invalid".

[@soc5830]

@ansicin6883 no. This has been resolved. Luckily the user found the pw.

[@marcelolaguna2012]

Thank you very much! I always forget my passwords. I love your channel, your didactics and affection in passing on knowledge are incredible.😀

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

So nice of you to say, Marcelo!

[@heinzthedutch]

"luckily" it is that easy... just succesfully removed one - thanks Mynda

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it helped!

[@HimeshDharmameher]

Excellent stuff Mynda

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thank you!

[@emile8147]

thanks for the tricks ! for the sheet protection level (if you can select all the cells), you can just select all the cells, copy, create a new sheet, paste on A1. the new sheet is not protected there's too some VBA code to unprotect the sheet, probably too to unprotect workbook

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Yes, it they've allowed cell selection, then copying and pasting is an option. It all depends how complex the file is as to how successful that would be. The VBA unprotection code was required for .xls file types, but with .xlsx we can simply unzip the file and locate the settings.

[@LauraOgbonna-o3i]

God bless you Madam. A life saver

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it was helpful!

[@usmanqamar12]

V. first trick worked. Thank you for making life easier.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Great to hear!

[@travis8422]

I am having difficulty with finding an example of the issue I am running into when trying to do this. First off, I saved the file through the excel options (not the F12 scenario at the end). When I change the copy to a zip and open up the zip file, I am not seeing the same folders/files that I am seeing in all of these YT video examples of the XML file. Instead, I see a folder titled [6]DataSpaces and two "files" (they have no extension) named EncryptedPackage and EncryptedInfo none of which seem to be of use.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

I'm not aware of how you'd save the file via Excel Options. The other way to save a file is via the File tab > Save as. Try using F12 to open the Save As dialog box as shown in the video to see if this solves the problem you're having.

[@pattiyawn3242]

having the same issue

[@vijaykumar140292]

Thank you, it was very helpful and saved me a lot of time.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Great to hear!

[@DenmarkRacuya]

You're genius. It works!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it helped 😊

[@romaindelplancq2377]

Thank you for the tutorial

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You’re welcome 😊

[@tokinabo]

As always, great tips! Thanks a lot, Mynda 🙂

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad you like them! 🙏

[@williamlongbottom5494]

Saved me hours. Thankyou

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad I could help!

[@jawadahmadehssan6251]

Thanks Mynda for the information.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You are so welcome!

[@learningwithmaliha]

Amazing tips!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad you think so!

[@MlguelM]

Wow Mynda! Nice usefull tips! Thanks a lot!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You're so welcome!

[@FishFinderHeroes]

very helptull video, thanks a lot mam, take ❤

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Most welcome 😊

[@arjungovindan178]

Superb Mynda, explained very clearly.... Thanks a lot ❤

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad you liked it

[@meicromini]

You absolute legend.❤

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad I could help 😊

[@LizbethOT7]

AMAZING! You saved me a great deal! Thank you, subscribing!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

So pleased I could help!

[@ST-di6nl]

It was a life saver. Thank you!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad I could help!

[@_S.H_]

I was hoping for any tips on removing or replacing the password of the older xls format.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Hmm, not that I can point you to, sorry.

[@ekkiwurm7874]

Super helpful video. Thanks a million for sharing, Mynda.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You are so welcome, Ekki!

[@matingholizade647]

incredibly helpful

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Great to hear 🙏

[@ArnoldNewton]

I've tried various solutions on StackOverflow but this was the only one that worked!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

So pleased I could help 😊

[@RT-up6ml]

Thank you I managed to use it for one of my old file I forgot password. User friendly

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it helped!

[@Azhar_Khan383]

Wonderful technique

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thank you!

[@yahyaalramadan4665]

Thank you for the interesting video. Are Excel VBA protected projects as easy to unprotect?

[@matroosoft4589]

Was wondering this, too!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Looks like it is: www.devhut.net/excel-unlocking-an-excel-vba-project/

[@teoxengineer]

Great tips Mynda, thank you! How can we break the VBA password to enter VBA code window? Do you know it? Thank you

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Hi Emre, it's similar and is explained here: www.devhut.net/excel-unlocking-an-excel-vba-project/

[@davidsirois9164]

What a great tip!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad you think so!

[@labonnes]

Just a little bit of precision on the sheet numbers. The XML name may be the same as the one seen in VBA, but not necessarily. From my understanding, it will always be Sheet1, Sheet2... in the XML structure with the number being the tab position (index) on the interface. If you were to move Sheet2 after Sheet3, the VBA would stay the same but "Sheet2" would be "Sheet3" in the XML. So if you have a lot of worksheet, you may need to count the position. I seem to recall that you need to count hidden sheet as well because they have their position once unhidden.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Ah, good to know. Thanks for sharing.

[@richardhui9176]

Thanks a lot, Mynda! I try to rename excel xlsx format to zip, but it shows window cannot open the folder and copy zip is "invalid". Could you advise what I do? Thanks

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Hi Richard, please post your question on our forum where you can share a screenshot showing your file name and we can help you further: www.myonlinetraininghub.com/excel-forum

[@Somayeh27]

I had same problem

[@MS113MS]

Thank you so much, it worked!!!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it helped!

[@elsalorenzana6795]

You are the best! I follow you since a year ago and I find your tutorials very helpful. Thanks :)

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Awesome to hear, thank you!

[@yuvarajarajasekaran7997]

Thank you very much your guidance. keep it up.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thank you, I will 😊

[@chrism9037]

Super helpful, thanks Mynda!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Cheers, Chris!

[@Joanne4Res]

thanks, this is a very clear video. So glad you suggested doing it on a copy to work on because didn't fully work for me and wiped the sheet I needed the password removed from? do you know why this would be please?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it helped! Not sure why it would wipe a sheet 🤔

[@mariamafshar9210]

It is working, bunch of thanks :)

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Welcome 👍

[@yashkatariya7922]

thank you so much for the help.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You're welcome!

[@EduardKorkia]

Thank you! 🤙

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

My pleasure, Eduard!

[@IvanCortinas_ES]

Without having to eliminate the entire sheetProtection clause, it is also possible to change the sheet, objects and scenarios sections (within sheetProtection) from 1 to 0 within said clause and continue with the process.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Nice tip, cheers, Ivan!

[@Johnmel1993]

Very helpful. Thank you

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Great to hear!

[@wah13]

Thank you for the video, able to unprotect the excel sheet. Better than Chatgpt at the moment😂

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

😁 glad I could help!

[@Dany-ns6hg]

Good one and very helpful, I remember this trick long back someone shared with me but it helped me to recollect. Do you have any trick to unlock VBA editor password because I lock most of my files for VBA editor so that user should not change code?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thanks, Dany! I haven't got a VBA example, but I'll add it to my To-Do list!

[@tutorials--1234]

@@MyOnlineTrainingHub I have VBA Code for breaking the VBA Editor Protection.

[@eslammaher8696]

Thank you very much,really amazing 😍

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

I'm glad you liked it 🙏

[@russelle.3254]

I have a file that is locked because of a forgotten password, it has the "File Open Protection" which you discuss at 8:23. I know you mention 3rd party app to assist with this, still no way to unlock without 3rd party apps? If not, what apps you reccomend?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

No, you need an app, and unfortunately I haven't used any that I can recommend.

[@pierrickdefossez3157]

use Passfab, Passper or Passwipe, those are clones. If you do not have access to a server, prepare for a long time process involving either a dictionnary (search the internet for "weakpass") or brute force attack

[@aurelieneveu9595]

Big thank you !

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You're welcome!

[@sudds50]

This is brilliant!! Thank you!!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad you liked it!

[@sadeemalolayan1568]

Thank you for your helping

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

My pleasure!

[@bobmoorehead8553]

Excellent as always! Thank you!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thanks so much, Bob!

[@paullindod]

Thanks for the great video. Is it possible to check the password in the XML tag?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

No, you can't find the password, the best you can do is remove it.

[@paullindod]

@@MyOnlineTrainingHub Thanks for the reply.

[@basitalisyed9445]

Very helpful tutorial... Good.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad you think so!

[@brandonmays8604]

Pro Tip for Mac users as well (because I couldn't do this) but I found another way! change the file extension to .csv, it will open with Numbers and remove all passwords!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thanks for sharing, Brandon!

[@rajeshchawda9449]

Superb! This is very Helpful. Thanks for sharing. Can we remove the password of an Excel Macro (Dot xlsm) file in the same manner?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Yes, pretty much.

[@daniellazylen5350]

that's awesome! thanks!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rhonalkhairul3969]

Very nice info, thank you for sharing.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it was helpful!

[@odel_leal]

Thank you for your video. It’s interesting.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

My pleasure 👍

[@goodone05004]

So if you put a password to open the file and a different password for the sheets, then people can't remove either of those passwords by the methods you showed right? Your videos are way better than the other excel channels btw. Thank you for the amazing work

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thank you 🙏 yes, if you password protect the file to open it then that password can’t be removed using these techniques, therefore the password for the sheets is also protected.

[@Vandalfoe]

In fact, the passwords needn't even be different; they'll never get into the zip file anyway. 👍

[@Daithai96]

I've always written macros that apply that protection as soon as the workbooks open. So, you could use these techniques, but unless you could also hack the VBA code, it wouldn't work on the useable file. But, still a very interesting video

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Nice trick, Dave! You can remove VBA protection with a similar technique to editing the zip file.

[@Daithai96]

@@MyOnlineTrainingHub Yeah, you can indeed. I wouldn't try to write a security app using VBA, but the number of people that are able to hack the VBA code is relatively small in my experience.

[@ProsenjitBappi]

Wow... You are awesome 🙂

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thank you so much 😀

[@carolynneccles823]

Is there a similar process for Word documents?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Not that I know of, sorry.

[@AhmedElsayed-ur8hv]

Very nice it was help me thank you very muchs

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Most welcome 😊

[@powerb_i]

Great video and well explained. Thank you.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@aamir6666]

Amazing. thank you.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gonzuic]

That’s awesome ❗️Mynda, what do you recomend to learn, Visual Basic o Java Script❓Thanks

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Ooh, good question. I'd probably go with JavaScript as this will have more application going forward.

[@gonzuic]

@@MyOnlineTrainingHub Do you have some course about this❓Thanks

[@omerabdu9093]

Great Helpful tutorial

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad you think so!

[@ashu17981]

Thank you so much for the wonderful information. I am able to crack the password. Protected to Un-Protected

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad I could help 😊

[@zoz462]

Should this be done on the same PC where the file was created ? I tried to do it on mine after having the file emailed to myself, using excel 2016, but it didn't work. What is my lost step here please?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

It doesn't matter which PC you use. Remember, the password to open the file requires a different process, as covered at the end of the video.

[@syedshas7105]

Thank you so much

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You're most welcome 😊

[@ericc.3524]

Hello Mynda and thank you for the great video. After I copy and rename the file extension to .zip, it won't extract all and I get a window prompt indicating the compressed file is empty. The file size in properties appears the same as the original worksheet, however. Kindly advise. Many thanks.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Sounds like you have a file that falls into the last scenario I covered. i.e. the password is at the file level.

[@ericc.3524]

@@MyOnlineTrainingHub Thank you!

[@chaitanyapatwari]

Thanks, Mynda. Is it also possible to view the password using this method so that we can unlock the sheet instead of removing protection?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Not that I'm aware of.

[@nunocorreia5570]

Very useful, thanks

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Glad to hear that!

[@szymongrabarczyk3561]

You actually can unzip protected file, open worksheets and some info is visible but most is encrypted.

[@evo.gaming255]

superb video

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Thank you so much 😀

[@navychhun4645]

thank you so much!

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You're welcome!

[@Kingleer69]

Mynda -- After unzipping my password protected Excel sheet, the worksheet folder instead of having all sheet***.xlm files, as in your video above, has only .bin files listed. Also: The unzipped "workbook" file, has a .bin extension. (As opposed to .xml) in your example above. Any thoughts?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Hmm, not sure about the .bin files. 🤔

[@Kingleer69]

@@MyOnlineTrainingHub Appreciate your help, Mynda.

[@TechnicalNH786]

Thanks Lady. But I face some technical error. WinRAR Diagnostic message The archive is either is unknow format or damaged.... Do you have any solution? waiting for swift response.

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

Have you tried using Microsoft explorer to unzip it, rather than a 3rd party app like WinRAR? Or it may simply be that you have the password at the file level, as per the last example.

[@krisyannuruha5147]

I think its easy because you just need to protect user from making a change on data on file. If we want, we still can copy paste the data to another excel file and do the job. Its different with open file, because its really prefent random person to read the data

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

You can only copy and paste the data if the worksheets aren't hidden and workbook protected. i.e. with worksheet protection and assuming they have allowed you to select locked cells.

[@shingalani]

My Excel 97-2003 files have an .xls extension. After following your steps, the text file that is produced results in unreadable strange characters. Any suggestions please?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

.xls files need different techniques that I don't cover in this video, sorry.

[@rassaville]

Thank you for the video. It seems that I have some sort of problem because when I try to rename the file as .zip it does not change the file type to compressed file but keeps it as Excel. I tried the same thing with a blank Excel file and have the same problem. Is this something to do with the version of Office or what?

[@MyOnlineTrainingHub]

It shouldn't matter what version of Office you have. Perhaps you don't have file extensions displaying in File Explorer, so renaming actually changes the file name, but not the extension.