Top 2 Ways to Unprotect Microsoft Excel Worksheet on Windows 10

Microsoft Excel is one of the popular tools used for data analysis and calculations. However, due to the nature of Excel, a change to a cell or worksheet can affect the output produced. As a result, many people use Protect Sheet or Protect Workbook in Excel to prevent unwanted changes.

But what happens when you need to unprotect Excel Worksheet or Workbook? There are several ways to achieve this and we will show you how.

1. Unprotect Microsoft Excel Using a Password

If the protected Microsoft Excel worksheet has a password, it’s pretty easy to unprotect it. Here’s how it works:

Stage 1: Start the Microsoft Excel file.

Step 2: To specify a locked or protected worksheet, click any of the cells and you should see a dialog stating that the sheet is protected. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Stage 3: On the protected worksheet, click Review on the Ribbon tab.

Step 4: In the Protection group, select Unprotect Worksheet.

Step 5: If you have a password for the worksheet, enter the password in the dialog that opens and select OK. If you enter the correct password, the worksheet becomes unprotected.

Note: You can unprotect only one worksheet at a time. If there is more than one protected worksheet, you must do this for each sheet.

2. Unprotect Microsoft Excel Without Password

What if the protected worksheet or workbook has no password? You can still unprotect an Excel workbook or worksheet using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) or other spreadsheet software such as Google Sheets.

Unprotect Microsoft Excel by Uploading to Google Sheets

This last method requires you to have an internet connection and a Google account. Here’s what you need to do:

Stage 1: Visit Google Sheets in a web browser.

Visit Google Sheets

Step 2: Under the Start a new spreadsheet title bar, click Empty (+).

Stage 3: Click File in the new spreadsheet.

Step 4: Click Import from the menu.

Step 5: In the dialog, click Upload and drag the Excel file from your device to Google Sheets.

Step 6: After the file has finished uploading, select Import Data.

Step 7: Excel’s data should now be in Google Sheets. Select File to convert back to Excel form.

Step 8: Select Download and then Microsoft Excel (.xlsx). Once you start the downloaded file, the password restrictions should no longer exist.

Note: When importing Excel to Google Sheets or downloading Google Sheets in Excel format, worksheets may have structural changes.

Unprotect Microsoft Excel Using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)

You can easily unprotect a password-protected worksheet or workbook using VBA code. However, this method is only available in Microsoft Excel 2010 or earlier. Here’s how it works:

Stage 1: Make a copy of the Microsoft Excel file and start the copy.

Making a copy ensures that you have a backup in case the VBA encoding fails.

Step 2: Check the file extension of the workbook. If it has the .xlsx extension, you must re-save it in .xls format by clicking File and then Save As.

The xlsx format is for workbooks created, edited, or saved in newer versions of Excel (Microsoft 2013 or later). The VBA method will not work in such workbooks.

Stage 3: Enter the name of the Excel file and choose .xls from the dropdown for the file type and click Save.

Step 4: Launch the Visual Basic Editor by pressing Alt + F11 on your keyboard.

Step 5: In the Editor’s Ribbon, select Add from the menu list, then select Module.

Step 6: A new window should open for the VBA code. Notice the two drop-down lists with General and Notifications.

Step 7: Copy and paste the following code in the module window:

Sub PasswordBreaker() Breaks worksheet password protection. 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 im 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 "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

Step 8: After pasting the code, the second drop-down list should change from Notifications to PasswordBreaker. Run the program by pressing the F5 key on the computer keyboard.

Step 9: In the window that opens, you should see a new password consisting of the letter A instead of the regular password. Click OK and you will get rid of the password protected worksheet.

Step 10: Click Ctrl + S to save the changes.

Protect Google Sheets

These were the ways to unprotect a Microsoft Excel Worksheet or Workbook in Windows 10. Google Sheets also provides a way to restrict cell and row editing. You can do this by locking cells and rows in Google Sheets.