Unlocking a Password Protected Worksheet in Excel and Calc

How to unlock password-protected sheets in Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice Calc. Let's figure it out now.

Unlocking a Calc sheet

To unlock a password-protected sheet in OpenOffice/LibreOffice Calc follow the steps below:

1. Go to the locked sheet. Clicking on it to make it active.

2. In the Tools menu select Protect Document → Sheet…

3. The Unprotect Sheet dialog box will open. Enter the password and click OK.

You're done. Now that protection is removed, the password will no longer be requested and you can work with the sheet without restrictions.

Unlocking an Excel sheet

Unprotecting sheets in Excel files is so very similar to the above:

1. First make the protected sheet active

2. Go to the Review tab and click on the Unprotect Sheet icon

3. In the window that has appeared, type in the password and press Enter or OK.

Bingo! Now the page is fully unlocked, and you can work without any restrictions.

Cracking a lost password of a protected spreadsheet

Remember that password protection of sheets is an option to prevent accidental editing of data. This security option does not encrypt or protect data from unauthorized access. Spreadsheet passwords are cracked instantly no matter the version of Excel or Calc. No matter how long or complex a password may be, the result is always a success. It's guaranteed.

How it works with Excel

This is an even easier case than simple removal of a password.

1. Download and install Accent OFFICE Password Recovery (the program finds passwords to all versions of Microsoft Office and OpenOffice/LibreOffice)

2. Open a file with a password-protected sheet in AccentOPR and get the result in a matter of seconds. The program will either generate hash collisions or an exact copy of the file without password protection.

Password encryption in Calc and Excel

When strong data protection is required, it is recommended to use the «Password to Open». In this case, all data are securely encrypted, and access to them is only possible when the correct password is entered.

Find out how to install, remove and crack such passwords here (here's a spoiler: AccentOPR has an excellent arsenal of tools to handle such passwords).