Unprotect Excel Sheet
Remove sheet protection from an Excel workbook without the password and download a copy you can edit. Free, no sign-up, and your file never leaves your browser.
Drop a read-only Excel file here
.xlsx, .xlsm, .xltx, or .xltm
Free · no sign-up · processed on your device
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How it works
01
Drop the protected workbook
Add the .xlsx or .xlsm file whose sheets are locked. It is opened by JavaScript in this tab and never sent to a server.
02
Protection is stripped
Every sheetProtection setting and the workbook structure lock are removed. No password is needed for either.
03
Download the unprotected copy
The same workbook comes back with every cell editable — formulas, charts, formatting, and macros untouched.
An .xlsx file is a zip archive of XML parts. When you protect a sheet, Excel writes a single sheetProtection element into that sheet's XML; protecting the workbook adds a workbookProtection element next to the sheet list. Neither encrypts anything. This tool unzips the workbook in your browser, deletes those elements, zips it back up, and hands you the result. The file is never uploaded, so it works the same on confidential spreadsheets and with your connection switched off.
When it works
- Works without a password
- Review → Protect Sheet and Protect Workbook in Excel. Both are a flag in the file's XML plus a password hash that only tells Excel to grey out its buttons; your data is not encrypted.
- Also removed
- Allowed-edit ranges, the read-only recommended prompt with its password to modify, and Marked as final.
- Needs the open password
- A file that asks for a password before Excel shows anything is encrypted. Enter that password and the tool decrypts it before unprotecting; without it nothing can open the file.
- Not supported
- Legacy .xls files. Save them as .xlsx in Excel first. Google Sheets protection lives in Google's servers, not in the file, so download the sheet as .xlsx and it arrives unprotected.
Excel still opening the file read-only after that? The lock may be outside the workbook — see read-only Excel to editable. Once the sheet is unlocked you can also export it to CSV or move it to Google Sheets.
Only for files you own
Use this tool on your own workbooks, or on files you have permission to edit — a template whose password nobody remembers, a report a former colleague locked, a sheet you protected yourself years ago. Removing protection someone placed to stop you from changing their file may breach your employer's policy or a licence agreement, and you are responsible for how you use it.
Common questions
- How do I unprotect an Excel sheet without the password?
- Drop the workbook into the tool above and download the copy it returns. Sheet protection is stored as a setting inside the .xlsx file, so it can be removed without knowing the password, and Excel opens the downloaded copy with every sheet editable.
- Is my file uploaded anywhere?
- No. The workbook is unzipped, edited, and zipped again entirely in your browser using local JavaScript. The file never leaves your device, and nothing is stored or logged.
- Will my formulas and formatting survive?
- Yes. Only the protection elements are deleted from the sheet and workbook XML. Every other part of the file, including formulas, charts, pivot tables, conditional formatting, hidden rows, and VBA macros, is copied across byte for byte.
- Can it open a workbook if I forgot the password to open it?
- No. A password to open means the whole file is encrypted, and no honest tool can decrypt it without that password. If you know it, enter it when asked and the workbook is decrypted and unprotected in one step.
- Is it legal to remove protection from an Excel sheet?
- Microsoft describes sheet protection as a way to prevent accidental changes, not as a security feature. Removing it from your own files, or files you have permission to edit, is fine. Do not use the tool to get around restrictions someone else placed on a file you are not allowed to change.