Microsoft Excel is packed with features. Protecting your Excel files at the cell, spreadsheet, or workbook level is one such feature. At times, you’re required to unprotect Excel workbooks to ensure that the data changes can be applied correctly. This article entails you how to unprotect Excel workbooks either as the owner of the workbook with the password or as an individual without the password. Let’s explore other details related to how to unprotect excel workbooks.
What you Need to Know about Excel Worksheet Protection?
Excel’s worksheet protection is not a security feature. It’s not really meant to keep anyone from looking at data in a password-protected worksheet. Though, the Microsoft Excel’s worksheet protection is based on a simple encryption technique. Even if you use a password to safeguard your Excel worksheet, the password is fairly easy to crack.
It doesn’t matter how lengthy or difficult your password is in older versions (below Microsoft Excel 2010). Anyone with a basic understanding of VBA can crack it in minutes. Recent versions of Excel 2013 and 2016 use more complex sheet protection techniques, but they are still vulnerable and can be unlocked without a password.
How to Unprotect Excel Workbooks?
The below steps explains you the steps for different way to unprotect excel workbooks:-
Unlock an Excel Workbooks as Owner
🔹 Select Review >>> Unprotect Sheet from the protected spreadsheet’s menu bar
🔹 You can also select Unprotect Sheet from the menu bar when you right-click the protected spreadsheet
🔹 Select the “Ok” button after entering the password for the spreadsheet
🔹 Your spreadsheet is now unprotected and modified.
Unprotect an Excel Workbooks without Knowing Password
You may have password-protected your Excel workbook or spreadsheet and haven’t needed to change it in months, if not years. You can’t recall the password you used to encrypt this spreadsheet now that you need to make modifications.
Fortunately, utilising a Virtual Basic script as a macro to identify the password, these methods will allow you to unprotect your workbook
🔹 Initially, open the protected worksheet
🔹 By pressing ALT+F11 or selecting Developer >>> View Code, you may get to the Visual Basic code editor
🔹 Enter the following code in the Code window of the protected sheet:
🔹 Sub PasswordBreaker()
🔹 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
🔹 To run the code, select Run or press the F5 key from your keyboard
🔹 It will take several minutes to run the code
🔹 When you’re done, a password will appear in a pop-up window
🔹 If you click on the Ok button, your spreadsheet will no longer be secured.
Conclusion
Well, these are the ways to unprotect excel workbooks and it is hoped that it will help you to make your process easy and quick. In any case, if you face any issue or are stuck in between any steps, you can connect with our Team of Experts via QuickBooks Helpdesk Team.
FAQs:
How to Unprotect an Excel Sheet with Google Sheets?
Ans: Another way to unprotect an Excel worksheet without a password is to use a workaround. To achieve this, you’ll need a Google Drive account: –
🔹 Click the “New” button in the top left corner of your Google Drive account
🔹 Select the “Google Sheets” from the New menu, then “Blank spreadsheet”
🔹 Click “File” in the toolbar and pick “Import” in the blank spreadsheet
🔹 Select the “Upload” tab from the menu in the Import file dialogue box, then click the “Select a file from your device” button
🔹 Search for and select the Excel worksheet on your local drive, then click “Open” to upload it
🔹 Alternatively, you may just drop the spreadsheet file into the Import file box
🔹 Select the “Replace spreadsheet” option in the Import file window and then click the “Import Data” button
🔹 This will import all of the data from your protected Excel worksheet into Google Sheets
🔹 You’ll notice that the spreadsheet is no longer protected, and you can alter the data at this point
🔹 The worksheet can now be exported back to Excel format
🔹 Select the “Download” option from the “File” menu from the toolbar in the now-unprotect Google sheet
🔹 From the context menu, select the “Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)”
🔹 Then click on the “Save” button and give the file a new name
🔹 The Excel sheet is still the same, but it is no longer password-protected.
How to Unlock a Protected Workbook in Excel?
Ans: Follow these steps to remove the workbook’s protection:
🔹 Once again, you have to select the Protect Workbook option
🔹 If prompted, type your password
🔹 At last, save the worksheet.
How to Remove Duplicates in Excel?
Duplicate data can be problematic for you. Follow the given below steps for removing duplicates in excel.
🔹 Choose any cell or a specific range in the dataset, where you notice/or have doubt about repetitive values.
🔹 Click on Data tab at top >Remove duplicates
🔹 A popup window will appear asking you to again select the columns that have duplicates.
🔹 Click on the checkboxes and then on OK.
🔹 Duplicate values will be removed and a pop up will appear on the screen confirming the same.
