In Excel: if you know the password, open the workbook, go to File ▸ Info ▸ Protect Workbook ▸ Encrypt with Password, delete the password from the box, click OK, and save.
On this page7
Open the workbook with the current password.
Use File ▸ Info ▸ Protect Workbook ▸ Encrypt with Password for file-open passwords.
Clear the password field completely and click OK.
Save, close and reopen to confirm the prompt is gone.
What this does
Removing an Excel password means clearing a password you are authorized to use. For file-open encryption, Excel must be opened with the current password first; then you clear the Encrypt with Password box and save. For sheet protection, use Review ▸ Unprotect Sheet. There is no legitimate built-in bypass for a workbook you cannot open. Before you run it on a workbook other people depend on, try it on a copy or a few rows first. Undo only reaches back through the current session, so a quick trial run is the cheapest way to see exactly what will change before the file is saved and shared. Treat “remove password excel” as a small repeatable workflow rather than a one-off click you hope to remember next time. Use a small test block before the live file, so any surprise in the affected cells shows up while it is still harmless. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. That turns a workspace setting that makes a big sheet comfortable to navigate into a method you can reuse, explain, and defend when the workbook leaves your screen.
A worked example
A workbook opens only after you enter Q2Budget2026. After opening it, choose File ▸ Info ▸ Protect Workbook ▸ Encrypt with Password. The dialog shows masked characters; delete them so the box is empty, click OK, save, close and reopen. Excel no longer asks for that file-open password. Password removal is useful when a workbook moves from restricted distribution to a normal shared template, but it should be done deliberately because it changes who can access or edit the file. If this is something you do often, add the command to the Quick Access Toolbar (right-click it on the ribbon and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar) or learn its shortcut, so next time it is one click instead of a hunt through the menus.
In Google Sheets
This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. Nothing on this page is behind a login or a download: the exact answer is at the top, and the detail below it is there for when you need it. That is the whole promise here — the answer first, and just enough context to make it stick. Treat “remove password excel” as a routine rather than a one-off. Once you know which setting or command controls it, the same few steps handle every workbook where it comes up in Excel, and you can explain them to a colleague in a sentence.
Common mistakes
- Trying to remove a file password without knowing it; Excel requires the current password to open the file.
- Using Unprotect Sheet when the password is actually file-open encryption.
- Clearing the password but forgetting to save the workbook afterward.
- Removing protection from a shared file without confirming who still needs restricted access.
Frequently asked questions
Can I remove an Excel password if I forgot it?
Not with a legitimate Excel command. You need the current password for an encrypted file.
Is sheet protection the same as file encryption?
No. Sheet protection limits edits after opening; encryption controls whether the file can be opened at all.
Why does Excel still ask for a password?
You may have cleared sheet protection but not file encryption, or you did not save after clearing the password.
Other ways people ask this
People reach this page typing “how to remove excel password”, “how to remove a password in excel”, “how to remove the password in excel” and “how to remove password for excel”, among other phrasings; whichever wording you used, the fix above is the one you want.
Platform & version notes
- Some variants pin a specific edition (the web version). The method above is stable across recent Excel releases — older versions only differ in where a ribbon icon sits, not in what the steps achieve.
Does this still work in older versions?
It does. The approach has been stable across recent Excel releases; only the ribbon icons have shifted cosmetically, so the steps above still apply.
Why do people search for this in so many different ways?
Because the same task has many names. “how to remove excel password”, “how to remove a password in excel”, “how to remove the password in excel” all point at the one operation explained on this page, which is why they all lead here.