How to Remove Encryption from Excel (2 Methods)

While working with important information in Excel, you might need to encrypt your worksheet or protect it with a password. Sometimes you need to protect the file with a password or encryption because you do not want someone you share it with to change the contents or modify the file. In such a case, we have to encrypt our Excel file to restrict access to the contents. But after the encryption has served its purpose, we do not need the encryption or password in our Excel file anymore. In this article, I will show you how to remove encryption from Excel files.

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2 Suitable Methods to Remove Encryption from Excel

Let’s assume a scenario where we have an Excel file that we encrypted to restrict its access. But now we do not need the encryption anymore and need to remove the encryption or password. We will follow the 2 methods below to remove encryption from the excel file. The image below shows the encrypted excel file with a dialogue box titled password that will prompt for the password when someone tries to open it.

1. Use Password to Remove the Encryption of the Excel File

Step 1:

• Removing the encryption or password from an Excel file is very easy. But we have to know the password to remove encryption from the Excel file. So, we will open the file and enter the password in the window like the above one.
• We will then click OK.

Step 2:

• Now we will click on the File.

• A new window will appear. We will then select the Info option from there.

Step 3:

• After we have selected Info, we will see a Protect Workbook drop-down menu in a yellow color-filled box. The box has a text inside: A password is required to open this workbook.

• We will click on the Protect Workbook drop-down menu. A list with multiple options will appear. We will click on the Encrypt with Password.

Step 4:

• A new window titled Encrypt Document will appear that has an input box with the current password of the document in encrypted form.

• We will delete the entire password by pressing the BACKSPACE.
• Next, we will click on OK.

• We will now see that the Protect Workbook drop-down does not have the yellow color-filled box and the text A password is required to open this workbook. That means the encryption or the password is removed from the Excel file.

• If we try to open the Excel file again, we will see that it is not asking for the password anymore.

Read More: How to Remove Password from Excel (3 Simple Ways)

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2. Apply the Unprotect Sheet Option to Remove the Encryption from Excel Worksheet

Sometimes you can protect a worksheet or even the entire workbook from the Review tab. If we try to modify or edit a worksheet or workbook that is protected in this way, it will show a warning message like the below one.

Step 1:

• If we want to remove the encryption or password from a protected worksheet or workbook, we will first have to go to the Review tab and click on Unprotect Sheet under the Protect section.

• A window will appear tilted Unprotect Sheet that will ask for the password. We will enter the password in the input box.
• We will then click OK.

Step 2:

• Now, if we go back to the Review tab, we will see that it is showing Protect Sheet instead of Unprotect Sheet. That means the worksheet does not have any password.

Read More: How to Remove Conditional Formatting in Excel (3 Examples)

Things to Remember

• Once you remove the encryption from the Excel file, it will not be protected anymore.
• You should select a password that is easy for you to remember but very hard for anyone to guess.

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned how to remove encryption from Excel in different ways. I hope from now on you can remove the encryption from Excel easily. However, if you have any queries or recommendations about this article, please do leave a comment below. Have a great day!!!

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