How to Set, Reset, Remove and Recover the Password of Excel Files

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Encrypt and protect your Excel spreadsheets easily
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It is crucial to protect a company or individual sensitive data in today’s highly connected world. Excel documents containing data such as payroll information, trading algorithms, confidential information or company secrets should always be password protected alongside normal document protection. However, these seem not far enough. We can do nothing but feel anxiety if the data is locked in Excel.

For this reason, some professional teams designed Excel password rescuer tools to recover Excel passwords for those who have lost or forgotten them. See Method 4.

Method 1
Method 1 of 5:

Setting a Password for an Excel File

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  1. Step 1 Click on the Office button, select Prepare, and then choose Encrypt Document
  2. Step 2 Enter a password in the Password box and then press OK.
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  3. Step 3 Re-enter the previous password to confirm and then press OK.
  4. Step 4 Save the password and the MS Excel 2007 document.
    (Note: As Microsoft advises, you must not forget the password or you will not be able to get into the document. If you forget, you have to turn to third-party software like Excel password rescuer for help.)
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Method 2
Method 2 of 5:

Resetting the password of An Encrypted MS Excel 2007 Document

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  1. Step 1 Click on the Office button-> Save as-> Tools on the right bottom of the Save as dialog box.
  2. Step 2 Click the Tools menu and choose General Options.
  3. Step 3 Type a password in the modifying password blank.
  4. Step 4 Retype the precious password in the blank and then press OK.
  5. Step 5 Click Save.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 5:

Removing the Password of an Excel Spreadsheet

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  1. Step 1 Enter the password to open the spreadsheet.
  2. Step 2 Click on the Office button-> Prepare-> Encrypt Document.
  3. Step 3 Remove the punctiform password in Encrypt Document box and then click OK.
  4. Step 4 Save the spreadsheet.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 5:

Removing an MS Excel File Password Online

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  1. Step 1 Find an online password recovery service using query "password find online"
  2. Step 2 Press the Unprotect your file button
  3. Step 3 Press the Browse button, select your protected spreadsheet and click Next Step
  4. Step 4 Select recommended Remove password option
  5. Step 5 Wait a few seconds while your password is being removed
  6. Step 6 If your file is small, it will be unprotected for free!
  7. Step 7 For bigger files you’ll be able to see the first rows of all your spreadsheets.
    To get the full document, you’ll need to enter the license key.
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Method 5
Method 5 of 5:

Recovering MS Excel password with Dossoft Excel Password Rescuer

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  1. Step 1 Download Excel Password Rescuer and install it.
  2. Step 2 Click Open and select the file of which the password is lost.
  3. Step 3 Choose an attack type to recover Excel password.
  4. Step 4 Attack settings.
  5. Step 5 Click Start on the left top.
    When the operation is finished, you will recover the lost Excel password successfully.
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  • Excel Password Rescuer is one of the most popular Excel password recovery tools that can recover Excel password from Excel 97 to Excel 2013. Meanwhile, it can open your file without any deficiency.
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wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 16 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 106,502 times.
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Co-authors: 16
Updated: March 21, 2025
Views: 106,502
Categories: Microsoft Office
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