How to Remove Encryption from Excel

A coworker sends a workbook that asks for a password every time it opens, and now that you have the password you want to save a copy that opens normally. Open the file with the password, go to File > Info > Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password, delete the dots in the password box, select OK and save the workbook. This works in Excel for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2024, 2021, 2019 and 2016 on Windows, and only when you know the password.

Which Kind of Excel Password Do You Have?

“Encryption” in Excel means one specific lock: the password to open the file. Excel has several other protections that look similar but are removed in different places, and mixing them up is the most common reason the steps “don’t work”. Match what you see to the table first.

What happens	Kind of protection	Where to remove it
Excel asks for a password before the file opens at all	Password to open (encryption)	File > Info > Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password
Excel asks for a password or offers Read Only when you open it	Password to modify	Save As > Tools > General Options
The file opens, but you can’t add, delete, rename or move sheets	Workbook structure protection	Review > Protect Workbook
The file opens, but cells on one sheet can’t be edited	Sheet protection	Review > Unprotect Sheet
A banner or label names your organization and you get permission errors	Sensitivity label or rights management	Home > Sensitivity, if your organization allows it

A quick way to check is File > Info. When the workbook is protected, the Protect Workbook area on that screen usually describes what is turned on, for example that a password is required to open the workbook or that one or more sheets are protected. A single file can have more than one of these at once, so you may need two of the sections below.

Every method here assumes you have the password. Excel passwords are case-sensitive, so “Budget2026” and “budget2026” are different. If you don’t have the password at all, skip to the section on forgotten passwords.

Remove the Password to Open a Workbook

Before you start, decide whether you still need a protected copy. Removing the password changes the file you save, so if the original must stay encrypted (for example, it holds payroll data), use File > Save As first to make a separate copy and remove the password from that copy.

1. Open the workbook and type the password when Excel asks for it.
2. Select File, then Info.
3. Select Protect Workbook, then Encrypt with Password. A small dialog opens with the password box filled with dots. Excel never shows the password itself.
4. Click in the box and delete all the dots so it is empty.
5. Select OK.
6. Save the workbook with Ctrl+S or File > Save. The change doesn’t take effect until you save.

Microsoft’s page on how to protect an Excel file sets this password in the same Encrypt with Password box, so an empty box plus a save takes it off again. If you close the file without saving, the password stays.

Remove It From the Save As Dialog Instead

On most Windows versions there is a second route that also shows the password to modify, which makes it handy when a file has both. Use it if File > Info looks different on your version or you want to save the result under a new name.

1. Open the workbook with its password.
2. Select File > Save As, then choose Browse (or More options) so the classic Save As window opens.
3. Next to the Save button, open the Tools menu and choose General Options.
4. Clear the Password to open box. If there is also a Password to modify, clear that box as well.
5. Uncheck Read-only recommended if it is checked and you don’t want the prompt.
6. Select OK, then Save. Choose a new file name to keep the protected original, or confirm replacing the existing file.

Remove a Password to Modify

A password to modify is not encryption. Anyone can still open the file: when they do, Excel usually asks for the password or offers a Read Only button. Read Only lets you view the data but not save changes to the same file.

To take it off, open the file with the modify password (not Read Only, because a read-only session can’t save over the original), then follow the Save As steps above and clear the Password to modify box. If someone only wants to discourage edits without a password, making a spreadsheet read-only covers the gentler options such as Always Open Read-Only.

Remove Workbook Structure Protection

Structure protection stops people from adding, deleting, hiding, renaming or moving sheets. The file opens without a password, but sheet tab options are grayed out. Microsoft’s page on how to protect a workbook explains that the Protect Workbook button on the Review tab looks highlighted while this is on.

1. Open the workbook and go to the Review tab.
2. Select Protect Workbook.
3. Type the password and select OK. If no password was set, the protection turns off right away.
4. Save the workbook.

Note the two buttons with the same name: Protect Workbook under File > Info is a menu that includes encryption, while Protect Workbook on the Review tab handles structure only.

Unprotect a Worksheet

Sheet protection locks cells on one sheet. You can scroll and read, but typing in a locked cell brings up a message that the cell is protected. Each sheet is protected separately, so a workbook with six protected sheets needs this done six times. Microsoft’s page on how to protect a worksheet lists two ways to turn it off.

1. Click the tab of the protected sheet.
2. Go to Review > Unprotect Sheet (in the Protect or Changes group), or use File > Info > Protect > Unprotect Sheet. On most versions you can also right-click the sheet tab and choose Unprotect Sheet.
3. Type the sheet password if asked and select OK.
4. Repeat for other protected sheets, then save.

If you only need to change a few cells and the owner wants the rest kept safe, ask them to clear the Locked setting on just those cells instead. Locking cells in Excel explains how locked cells and sheet protection work together.

Remove Protection in Excel for Mac

Microsoft’s Mac page on how to change or remove workbook passwords covers Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac, Excel 2024 for Mac and Excel 2021 for Mac. Anyone who knows the current password can change or remove it.

1. Open the workbook with its password.
2. On the Review tab, select Unprotect Sheet (for a protected sheet) or Protect Workbook (for the workbook) and enter the password. Unprotect Sheet removes the sheet password right away.
3. To remove the workbook password, select Protect Workbook, then select OK without entering a new password.
4. Save the workbook.

Where the password-to-open setting lives on a Mac varies by version: look for it in the Protect Workbook options on the Review tab or under File > Passwords, then clear the box and save. One limit matters if files move between computers: Excel for Mac supports passwords of up to 15 characters, and a Windows file with a longer password can’t be opened in Excel for Mac. Remove or shorten such a password on the Windows PC first.

Files Protected by a Sensitivity Label

At work, a file may be encrypted by a sensitivity label rather than a password. You’ll typically see a label name such as Confidential in the title bar next to the file name, and the restriction follows your account rather than a password. Microsoft’s page on how to apply sensitivity labels to your files says you can remove a label by unselecting it from the sensitivity bar or the Sensitivity menu on the Home tab. If your organization requires a label on every file, you can change the label but not remove it, and without permission the option is disabled or shows an error.

If the label won’t budge, the decision belongs to the file’s owner or your IT team. Ask them to change it rather than looking for a workaround; these labels exist because of company data rules.

If You Forgot the Password

Here is the honest answer: if a file is encrypted with a password to open and nobody knows the password, Microsoft can’t recover it. Microsoft’s worksheet protection page says plainly that if you forget your password, Microsoft cannot retrieve it, and its Mac page on passwords to open says that if you lose the password, you can’t open or gain access to the workbook. Excel’s encryption is designed that way so a lost laptop doesn’t expose your data.

Websites and programs that promise to crack or strip Excel passwords are not a safe answer. Uploading a private workbook to an unknown service puts the data at risk, and using them on someone else’s file can break company policy. These are the legitimate things to try instead:

• Retype carefully. Check Caps Lock and your keyboard language, since passwords are case-sensitive and a different layout can swap characters.
• Check your password manager or browser’s saved passwords, and any notes where you or the sender might have recorded it.
• Ask the person who protected it. For a file from a coworker or client, they can send the password or an unprotected copy.
• Look for an earlier version. If the file is in OneDrive or SharePoint, its version history may hold a copy saved before the password was added. Backups from before that date work the same way.

Version history is often the quickest win. The idea is the same as when you restore a previous version of a Word file: open the version list, find a date before the password was set and restore or download that copy.

Check That It Worked and Protect It Again Safely

Close the workbook completely, then open it again. If it opens without a password prompt, the encryption is gone. File > Info is the second check: the Protect Workbook area should no longer say a password is required to open the file.

If it still asks, the usual causes are that the change wasn’t saved, you opened a different copy (for example an email attachment instead of the saved file), or a password to modify is still set. Removing encryption doesn’t change your data, formulas or formatting; it only changes how the file opens.

Need protection back later? Encrypt with Password works in reverse: type a new password and save. Microsoft suggests a password of at least eight characters, or a passphrase of 14 or more, and keeping it somewhere safe since it can’t be recovered. For the full setup, see how to password protect an Excel file.

When Excel Still Asks for a Password

Is Encrypt with Password the same as Protect Sheet?

No. Encrypt with Password scrambles the whole file so it can’t be opened without the password. Protect Sheet leaves the file open to anyone and only stops edits to locked cells. Removing one doesn’t remove the other.

Why is Unprotect Sheet grayed out or missing?

Check that the right sheet tab is selected, since each sheet has its own protection. If you are editing a cell, press Esc first, because many ribbon commands are unavailable during cell editing. A file opened in Protected View or as Read Only may also need Enable Editing before the command is available.

I removed the password but my coworker still gets a prompt. Why?

They probably have an older copy, such as the attachment from the first email. Send them the newly saved file or a shared link to it.

Can I remove the password in Excel for the web?

Password-to-open settings are generally a desktop feature. If you only have the file in a browser, open it in the Excel desktop app on Windows or Mac to remove the password, then save it back.

Once the file opens normally, consider whether a lighter option such as sheet protection or a read-only recommendation would do the job, so the next person doesn’t face the same password prompt. If you need to check which Excel you have before following the steps, see which version of Excel you are using.