Remove Excel worksheet and workbook protection
If you think Excel’s worksheet and workbook protection will truly keep your files secure — think again.
Both are surprisingly easy to bypass. That’s bad news if you’re relying on them for security, but good news if you’ve ever forgotten your own password.
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Remove worksheet protection
- In File Explorer, go to View > Show and enable File name extensions.
- Rename the file extension from .xlsx to .zip.
- Confirm the change when prompted.
- Open the new zip file.
- Navigate to xl > worksheets and locate the XML file for the sheet you want to unlock.
- Copy this file to your desktop.
- Right-click > Edit in Notepad.
- Press Ctrl + F and search for sheetProtection.
- Delete the entire <sheetProtection … /> tag.
- Save and close the file.
- Drag the edited file back into the zip, choosing Copy and Replace.
- Rename the extension back to .xlsx.
- Open the workbook — the sheet is now unprotected.
Remove workbook protection
Follow the same steps, except in step 5 open workbook.xml (inside the xl folder), and in step 8 search for workbookProtection instead.
Final thoughts
Excel’s built-in password protection should never be your only line of defence. It’s fine as a basic deterrent, but if you’re storing anything truly sensitive, don’t keep it in a workbook at all.
