The Brute-force attack is set as the default option since it will check all the characters one by one to discover the password, so no additional information is available. Many tools are available, but a piece of software called PassFab for Excel proved to be the easiest solution, with zero risks of file damage.Īfter you import your password-protected Excel file into this software, you’ll see three options for password attack type. If you’ve used the password to protect the entire Excel 2016 file, you’ll need a third-party tool to recover the password to remove it. When You’ve Forgotten the Password for a Fully-Encrypted File It only takes a couple of clicks.Īfter you’ve opened your Excel file, go to the Info section, choose “Protect Document,” then “Restrict Editing.” At the bottom of the following pop-up menu, there’ll be the “Stop protection” option. Restrictions are not passwords, so they’re quite easy to remove.

When You’ve Protected the File with Read-Only Restrictionīefore we move on to heavy artillery, we should mention what to do if you’ve protected your Excel file with a read-only restriction.

Passfab excel online