Protecting Excel with a password - how it works

If your Excel documents contain sensitive data or you simply don't want other people to access them, you can encrypt the files with a password. Learn how to do it, what to look out for and how to remove the password.

Setting up password protection in Excel

If you want to password protect your Excel file, it works through the file's security settings.

1. Open the workbook you want to password protect.
2. Click on "File" in the menu bar and select the item "Information".
3. Click on "Protect workbook", set a password and click on "OK". The password can be any length and contain all characters and numbers.
4. Enter the password again and finally confirm with "OK".

Note that Excel is not able to retrieve or recover forgotten passwords. Therefore, use a password that you can remember well.

Remove password - this is how you must proceed

The password of a workbook can be changed or removed again via the settings by all users who know the current password.

1. Open the workbook where you want to remove or change the password protection.
2. Click on "File" in the navigation and then select the item "Information".
3. Remove the password or enter a new one.
4. Confirm your entry by clicking on "OK".