How to Unprotect Excel sheets

Author: Laura McKinney
Date Of Creation: 3 August 2021
Update Date: 22 June 2024
Anonim
EASILY UNLOCK Protected Excel Sheets WITHOUT Password
Video: EASILY UNLOCK Protected Excel Sheets WITHOUT Password

Content

This wikiHow teaches you how to unprotect sheets in a Microsoft Excel workbook set on Windows or macOS. If the worksheet is password-protected without your knowledge, you can use Google Sheets or VBA scripts (on earlier versions of Excel) to remove the layer of protection.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Use Microsoft Excel

  1. Open the workbook with the protected worksheet in Microsoft Excel. Usually, you just need to double-click on the filename on your computer.


  2. Right-click the protected sheet's card. Each worksheet shows up as a tab along the bottom of Excel. Protected sheets often have a padlock icon in some versions of Excel. You need to right-click on the tab (or lock icon) to open the context menu.
    • If multiple sheets are protected, you need to remove the protective layer with each sheet separately.

  3. Click Unprotect Sheet (Unprotect sheet). If the worksheet doesn't have the password, it will be unlocked immediately. If not, you will be asked to enter your password in the pop-up window.


  4. Enter your password and click OK. If the password is correct, the sheet will be unprotected.
    • If you don't know the password, see the Using Google Sheets method. This allows you to upload the file to Google Sheets, and all the security layers added to Excel will be deleted.
    • If you are using Excel 2010 or earlier and do not want to upload files to Google Sheets, please see method Using VBA code in Excel 2010 or earlier.
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Method 2 of 3: Upload to Google Sheets


  1. Access https://drive.google.com using a web browser. If you have a Google account, you can use Google Sheets (a free online app similar to Excel) to remove protection from the entire worksheet in your workbook even if you don't know the password.
    • If you're not signed in with your Google account, follow the on-screen instructions to sign in.
    • If you don't have a Google account yet, see How to create a Google account.

  2. Click New (New) in the upper left corner of the page.

  3. Click File Upload (Upload files). Your computer's Open window will open.

  4. Select the Excel file you want to edit and click Open (Open). The file will be uploaded to Google Drive.

  5. Double-click the Excel file in Google Drive. You may need to scroll down to find it. A preview of the file will open.

  6. Click the menu Open with (Open with). This option is at the top of the preview. A menu will be expanded.

  7. Click Google Sheets. So the file will be opened for editing in Google Sheets, and any sheet protection that has been added in Excel will be removed.

  8. Download the file back to your computer. If you want to continue working with files in Microsoft Excel rather than Google Sheets, you can download this new unprotected version of the workbook as follows:
    • Click the menu File in the upper-left corner of the worksheet.
    • Click Download As (Download as).
    • Click Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) .
    • Select a folder to save the file. If you want to keep the original file (with a protected sheet), enter a new name for the file you are about to load.
    • Click Save (Save) to download the file.
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Method 3 of 3: Use VBA code on Excel 2010 and earlier

  1. Open the workbook with the protected worksheet in Excel by double-clicking the file name on the computer. Excel files usually end with the extension .xls or .xlsx.
    • Use this method if you've tried to unlock the sheet but found that the sheet is password protected (and you don't know the password).
    • This method will not be applied in Excel 2013 or later.

  2. Save the file as it is xls. If the file you are working on has the ".xlsx" extension (this is common if the spreadsheet was created or edited in a later version of Excel), you need to convert the file to Excel 97-2003 format. (.xls) before this method can be applied. Here's how to proceed:
    • Click the menu File in the upper right corner.
    • Click Save As.
    • Go to the folder where you want to save the file.
    • Choose Excel 97-2003 (.xls) from the menu "Save as type" or "File Format".
    • Click Save.
      • Follow the on-screen instructions to perform all necessary transitions.

  3. Press Alt+F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor.

  4. Right-click on the filename in the "Project - VBAProject" pane. This item is at the top of the left pane. Make sure you right-click on the option with the filename (".xls" extension) at the top. A menu will be expanded.

  5. Click Insert (Insert) in the menu. Another menu will expand.

  6. Click Module To insert the new module we will paste some code.

  7. Copy the code. Highlight the code below, then press Ctrl+C (PC) or ⌘ Command+C to copy:

  8. Right click on the new module and select Paste (Paste). The copied code will appear in the module window.

  9. Press F5 to execute the code. Excel will run the code, and this should take a few minutes. Once done, your new password will appear in a pop-up window.
    • The new password will be a random number to replace the original password.

  10. Click OK on the Password dialog box that pops up. The new password will appear, but you do not need to write it down. Just click OK is the sheet protection that will be automatically deleted.
    • If you converted the file format before, now you can save the workbook again as.xlsx file.
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