Excel is a great tool to help you manage your finances, organize large datasets, or complete tasks for work. But have you ever worried that putting sensitive data in Excel worksheets could open you up to unnecessary cybersecurity threats? While Microsoft Excel has various security measures in place to reduce the risk of hacking, there’s nothing to stop someone from hopping on your computer or device and accessing unprotected Excel files — except a password, of course.

If this is your first time trying to password-protect an Excel file, you probably have a few questions. For example, what is the process for adding a new password in Excel? What happens if you need to remove an Excel password? How can you access an important file if you forgot your Excel password? Finally, how can you get expert help with Excel to troubleshoot any password-related issues?

In today’s guide, we will answer all of these questions and more, so let’s get started!

How To Password Protect Excel Files

The easiest tool to keep your Excel files secure from prying eyes is a password. Needless to say, you’ll want to pick a password that is difficult to guess (for others) and easy to remember (for you). Once you have a password in mind, you can choose to set the password for opening the file, modifying the file, or both. Keep in mind that the steps outlined in this guide apply to all versions of Excel going back to 2010. The steps for Excel versions prior to 2010 may be a little different.

Set a Password to Open Excel Files

This is the most common method used to protect Excel files. This ensures that no one can even view your file without entering the correct password. Follow the steps below to set a password to open an Excel file:

  1. Open the Excel file you want to password-protect
  2. Click the “File” tab
  3. Choose “Info” from the menu
  4. Click the “Protect Workbook” button
  5. Choose “Encrypt with Password”
  6. In the “Encrypt Document” dialog box, enter the password you want to use to protect the file
  7. Click “OK”
  8. Save your file after setting the password to finalize the change

Set a Password to Modify Excel Files

This method applies if you want to be able to open the file, but only want people with access to the password to be able to make any changes. While this is not the standard way to make an Excel file “read-only” (we will discuss that process later on), it is functionally the same. Here are the steps you’ll need to follow to set up a password for modifying Excel files:

  1. Open the Excel file you want to password-protect
  2. Click the “File” tab
  3. Choose “Info” from the menu
  4. Click the “Protect Workbook” button and choose “Protect Current Sheet” or “Protect Workbook Structure”
  5. In the “Protect Sheet” or “Protect Workbook Structure” dialog box, enter a password to modify the file
  6. Check the desired options for protection, and then click “OK”
  7. Save your file after setting the password to finalize the change

How To Remove A Password From Excel

The ability to set a password to open or modify an Excel file is a great feature, but there may come a time when you no longer want or need a password. For example, if you have removed sensitive data from the file and you want to simplify the sharing process, removing the password is a quick and easy solution. To remove a password used to open an Excel file, follow these steps:

  1. Open the protected Excel file and enter the password when prompted
  2. Click the “File” tab
  3. Choose “Info” from the menu
  4. Click the “Protect Workbook” button
  5. Choose “Encrypt with Password” from the menu
  6. In the “Encrypt Document” dialog box, delete the password in the “Password” field
  7. Click “OK”
  8. Save your file to finalize the change

Here is the process to remove the password used for modifying the file:

  1. Follow steps 1-3 above
  2. Click the “Protect Workbook” button and choose “Unprotect Current Sheet” or “Unprotect Workbook Structure”
  3. In the “Unprotect Sheet” or “Unprotect Workbook Structure” dialog box, delete the password to modify the file
  4. Click “OK”
  5. Save your file to finalize the change

Unprotect An Excel Sheet Without A Password

If you have forgotten the password to your Excel sheet and want to unprotect it, things get a little bit trickier. Unfortunately, there is no Excel password recovery tool. Instead, you’ll need to use VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) to unprotect your workbook without a password. VBA can function as a workaround that is particularly effective on older versions of Excel. Keep in mind that this method might not work on newer Excel versions, as Microsoft is constantly implementing more advanced security features.

In any case, here’s how to unprotect an Excel sheet without your password:

  1. Open the password-protected Excel workbook
  2. Press ALT + F11 to open the VBA editor
  3. In the “Project” window on the left side, find the workbook that contains the protected sheet, likely listed under “VBAProject (YourWorkbookName)”
  4. Right-click on the workbook name and select “Insert” followed by “Module”
  5. In the newly created module, paste the corresponding VBA code to unprotect the worksheet

Remember that VBA requires you to use relatively complex coding. It may not be easy to get the code exactly right, in which case you won’t get the results you want. So, if you want to unprotect a file without a password, but you don’t want to go through the trouble of coding in VBA, consider getting the help of an Excel expert.

Making An Excel File Read Only

As previously mentioned, you can set a password to modify your Excel file, which functionally makes it “read-only.” However, the differences arise based on where the actual password protection is implemented. Passwords for modifying a file are created within Excel, while certain types of read-only files are created at the file level. In any case, if you actually want to make a file read-only so that users can view it without making or saving changes, there are two possible ways to do it:

Set File Properties to Read-Only

This method works for just about any kind of file, including Excel files. To set the file properties to read-only, just follow these steps:

  1. Close the Excel file if it’s currently open
  2. Locate the file in Windows File Explorer
  3. Right-click on the file and select “Properties”
  4. In the “Properties” dialog box, go to the “General” tab
  5. At the bottom of the dialog, check the box next to “Read-only”
  6. Click “OK” to finalize the changes

Set the Excel Workbook to Read-Only

This method allows you to set a password to open the file in read-only mode. Users without the password can still view the file, but they cannot edit it. To use this method, simply follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Excel file
  2. Click on the “File” tab
  3. Choose “Save As” and select a location to save the file
  4. Click the “Tools” menu and select “General Options”
  5. In the “General Options” dialog box, enter a password in the “Password to modify” field
  6. Check the box next to “Read-only recommended”
  7.  Click “OK” and then “Save” to finalize the changes

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