Excel: Remove password - get access again

In general, it is a really useful option that you can password protect your folders in Excel. However, you may need to remove the password to get access to necessary documents. This can be done in a few steps.

How it works: remove password

With a little effort it is possible to remove a sheet protection password from an Excel spreadsheet. To do this, you need to do the following:

1. Close Excel as well as all open folders.
2. After that, you need to download and install the program 7-Zip. This application is available free of charge.
3. Right-click on "Excel" and select the option "Open 7-Zip" in the context menu that appears.
4. Now open the folder "XL" and in it the subfolder "worksheets". In this folder you will find a file labeled "sheet1.xml". Don't be surprised if there are several files. This is because the more pages there are, the more files are stored. Place the Excel spreadsheet on the desktop from which you want to remove the password and right-click on it. Now select the option "Open with Editor".
5. Press "CTRL" + "F" and type "protection". Sobald Sie die Textstelle gefunden haben, löschen Sie den Teil ab <sheetProtection> bis zum folgenden />.
6. Mit „STRG“ + „S“ speichern Sie die Datei.
7. Verschieben Sie die Datei wieder in den Ordner „worksheets“ und bestätigen Sie den Kopiervorgang.
8. Im Anschluss öffnen Sie die gewünschte Datei wie gewohnt in Excel.