Top 4 Free Excel Password Recovery Tools

Are you concerned about damaging your Excel files when attempting to restore Excel files secured by a password? Excel is unusual among software because it lacks a "Forgot Password" option that allows you to reset password if you forget it. Everyone who has ever protected an Excel sheet with a password knows that losing that password means losing access to the file forever.

Don't fret! If you forget Excel password, here are the best free Excel password recovery tools that can help you easily recover forgotten Excel password!

• Part 1. Is It Possible to Recover Excel Password If Forgot?

• Part 2. How to Recover Forgotten Excel Password?

• Solution 1: Recover Excel Password Online

• Solution 2: Recover Excel Password with iCrowbar

• Solution 3: Recover Excel Password with VBA Code

• Solution 4: Recover Excel Password with Zip

Part 1. Is It Possible to Recover Excel Password If Forgot?

The answer is "yes"! Password recovery for Excel is possible.

If you forget or confuse the password to your Excel file, there are many methods you can use to unlock your Excel file to recover the password, including brute force cracking, dictionary attacks, masking attacks, etc.

Some applications also provide additional features such as password suggestions, password history to further facilitate password recovery.

Part 2. How to Recover Forgotten Excel Password?

If you've forgotten your excel password and you want the best free excel password recovery method, now, get the right tools here!

Solution 1: Recover Excel Password Online

You can attempt to use an online recovery tool if you do not wish to set any third-party software on your personal computer. Excel passwords can also be unlocked online with little effort, but doing so requires a connection that is both reliable and strong. In addition, it is important to note that you must upload your file to the website's server to continue the recovery process.

Steps to follow:

Visit Password Online Recovery's main page.

Choose "Upload your encrypted file" to securely send in your Excel file.

A valid email address must be entered as the last step in the upload process.

Decryption instructions will be sent to your inbox; please check them there.

Patiently await the tool's password recovery. Once recovery is complete, you will receive an email notification.

Solution 2: Recover Excel Password with iCrowbar

WooTechy iCrowbar is an official and professional document password recovery tool. It can help you recover passcode without any restriction, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF, RAR, ZIP. The following are the steps to recover passwords for which Excel prompts you when you open an Excel document.

Step 1: Launch WooTechy iCrowbar

Install and launch WooTechy iCrowbar on your computer.

Select Excel option.

Select the "Recover Passwords" mode.

Step 2: Add the Encrypted Excel File and Select an Attack Type

Tap "Add" to import the password-protected Excel file into the program.

Choose a mode of attack base on your situation.

Mode 1. Dictionary Attack

It is a widely used method to unlock passwords for Excel File.
It makes use of a dictionary that has millions of the most popular passwords. Thus there is a good likelihood of recovery.
You may use the built-in dictionary in this mode or import your own from the options menu.

Mode 2. Combination Attack

By adjusting the character settings and randomly mixing the characters you select, you can find your password.
For instance, you often generate a password of 6–8 characters using your name (Tom) and a few digits.
You can customize the settings as follows:

Password Length: 6-8 characters

Uppercase Letters: T

Lowercase Letters: o,m

Numbers: Select All

Just the characters you chose will be combined, and all possible combinations of these characters will be tested.
It will find your password more quickly if you use a shorter password.

Mode 3. Mask Attack

It is strongly advised that you utilize this technique if you know even a small bit about the password. It will attempt to recover the password by taking into account the characters, prefixes, suffixes, and length of the password.
If you are familiar with specific character kinds that are not in the password, this strategy will work better.
You know, for instance, that your password won't contain any symbols. You often use a password between 6 and 8 characters and believe it could incorporate your name (Mary).
You can customize the settings as follows:

Password Length: 6-8 characters

Characters not included: symbols

Characters or combinations of characters may be included: Mary

The computer will mix "Mary" with all the other characters (numbers, lowercase letters, and symbols aside from those) to determine your password. If the complete name "Mary" isn't in the password, write the letters individually.

Mode 4. Brute Force Attack

This approach should be used if you have no idea what the password to your Excel file could be.
Remember that using this approach will result in a slight delay in obtaining the file's password.

Step 3: Recover Excel Password

Click "Recover" after choosing an attack mode and customizing the settings. The password recovery process will begin. Hold off until it fixes things.

After the password is discovered, it will be shown on your screen. The password may then be used to launch MS Excel and access your file.

Solution 3: Recover Excel with VBA Code

The VBA Code will be our focus for the next procedure. This solution will only work for prior versions of Excel, including 2010, 2007, and before.

Here are the steps to follow:

To use the VBA editor, open the encrypted Excel file and press Alt+F11, which will start Visual Basic Editor, or go to the Developer tab in Excel.

Choose Module after clicking the Insert button on the toolbar.

Use the dialogue box in the Module window to paste the lines of code shown below.

Sub PasswordRecovery()
Dim i As Integer, j As Integer, k As Integer
Dim l As Integer, m As Integer, n As Integer
Dim i1 As Integer, i2 As Integer, i3 As Integer
Dim i4 As Integer, i5 As Integer, i6 As Integer
On Error Resume Next
For i = 65 To 66: For j = 65 To 66: For k = 65 To 66
For l = 65 To 66: For m = 65 To 66: For i1 = 65 To 66
For i2 = 65 To 66: For i3 = 65 To 66: For i4 = 65 To 66
For i5 = 65 To 66: For i6 = 65 To 66: For n = 32 To 126
ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _
Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & _
Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)
If ActiveSheet.ProtectContents = False Then
MsgBox "One usable password is " & Chr(i) & Chr(j) & _
Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & _
Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)
Exit Sub
End If
Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
End Sub

To execute the code and close the window, use the CTRL+F9 keyboard shortcut. The password for your Excel file will be sent to you. Write it down and use OK to open your Excel document.

Solution 4: Recover Excel with Zip

Existing Excel files from both Excel 2007 and Excel 2019 can be opened and edited with this technique. Follow the instructions below.

Download 7-Zip or another Zip compression tool like WinRar and install it on your computer.

To access the Excel file, decompress it. Choose "Open with WinRar or 7-Zip" from the file's context menu.

Access the "xlworksheets" folder to disable the worksheet's password security.

Track down the document for which you can't remember the password. Right-click on it and select "Edit" from the menu that appears.

To remove the tag, press Ctrl+F and look for it.

After erasing, save the file and exit the editor. Your worksheet has been unlocked.

Conclusion

Keeping track of your information and the paperwork you generate at work is essential. However, there are times when you need to keep your workbook confidential and secure by locking it with a password. The problem arises, though, if you lose track of your password.

This Excel password recovery tutorial will show you how to decrypt your worksheets to overcome this obstacle and return to work.

Obviously, if you have forgotten your excel password, iCrowbar will be your best choice to recover Excel password!