Disable Excel password protection

Question

I am trying to disable Excel password protection via group policy to prevent user from saving file with password. After much research, I came across 2 solutions.

 

By the way, my machine is Win 10 Pro with Office Home and Business 2021. I also downloaded and applied latest administrative template for Office from Microsoft website.

 

Solution 1
In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Excel > Excel Options > Security
Select "Password to open" and set as "Disabled".
Select "Password to modify" and set as "Disabled"

 

However, the path found in the group policy is Microsoft Excel 2016 instead of Microsoft Excel.  Under the Excel Options > Security, there is no "Password to open" and "Password to modify"

Solution 2
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft office 2016 > Security Settings
Select "Disable password to open UI" and set as "Enabled"

Based on description, this setting apply to Office 2016. I tried and it does not work for Office 2021.

 

Any way I can prevent saving Excel file with password via group policy or registry key?

Answer 1

Hi,

It seems that the specific group policy settings you mentioned may not be available or applicable to your version of Microsoft Office (Office Home and Business 2021). Group policies for Office versions may vary, and certain settings may not be present.

You can try the following alternative approach:

1. Open the Group Policy Editor by pressing Windows Key + R, typing "gpedit.msc," and hitting Enter.
2. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Office > [Your Office Version] > Excel > Save.
3. Look for the setting "Disable Save As password" or a similar option. Enable this setting.

Note- The exact path and setting name may vary depending on the Office version.

Let me know if this works.

Best Regards.

Answer 2

Hi,

Did you download the Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) from this link?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49030

If yes, it's not supported with Office 2021 Home and Business.

I suggest you refer to this article and try the registry key to help you:

https://admx.help/?Category=Office2016&Policy=office16.Office.Microsoft.Policies.Windows::L_DisablepasswordtoopenUI

Registry Hive	HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry Path	software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\common\security
Value Name	disablepasswordui
Value Type	REG_DWORD
Enabled Value	1
Disabled Value	0

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