Excel File Password

Question

I have an excel file with password protected since 2020. I hardly use the file until recently but I forgot the password. How can I recover my excel file password.

Answer 1

There is no native method in Windows or Excel to remove that password or access that file if you cannot remember the password, and because this is a Microsoft forum, no-one here is allowed to provide a method to bypass the password, I hope you understand.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, if you have forgotten the password for your password-protected Excel file, there is no straightforward method to recover it. Microsoft does not provide a way to recover lost passwords for Excel files, and if you forget the password, you cannot unprotect the sheet or workbook. It is advisable to keep a list of your passwords in a safe place to avoid such situations in the future.

If you are looking to unprotect the workbook programmatically, you can use the Unprotect method in the Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel namespace, but this requires you to know the password. Here’s a brief overview of the method:

public void Unprotect(object Password);

The Password parameter is required to unprotect the workbook, and if you omit it, the method will fail if the workbook is protected.

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References:

• Workbook.Unprotect(Object) Method
• Errors when running desktop flows that include Excel actions