Microsoft Office provides a security option that allows users to set passwords to protect their documents, as well as current sheets, spreadsheet structures, add digital signatures, and more. Password-protected documents cannot be opened or edited unless you enter the correct password. Now, imagine you have an important document, and you forget the password. You only vaguely remember some details about the password but not entirely accurate. What would you do in this case? Passper for Excel password recovery tool from IMyFone will dispel your worries and help you quickly retrieve the password.
Guide to Recover Forgotten Excel Passwords with Passper
Passper for Excel Password Recovery Tool
Passper for Excel helps you remove lost or forgotten Excel passwords without affecting the original data in the spreadsheet. It offers two different solutions. The first is password recovery, and the second is the removal of any restrictions applied to the document.
1. Excel Password Recovery
Click on the Recover Passwords option and select a file. The next crucial step is where you have to choose the recovery method to find the password associated with that Excel file. First, you need to consider a few details to expedite the recovery process.
- Search for a potentially used password to lock the file.
- The password may include numbers, special characters, or a letter sequence...
After gathering some necessary information, the software will unlock the Excel file more easily. Click on one of the methods in the Select a Recovery Method section.
1.1. Combination Attack
This method combines all the characters you select. It helps narrow down the range of the chosen characters, not all characters. For example, you may not know the password, but you may know specific characters such as numbers or certain letters. After selecting them, the software will start combining only those characters.
- Password strength.
- Prefix and suffix.
- Uppercase and lowercase letters.
- Symbols.
If the password you guess is close to the actual password, the recovery process will be quick. In this case, with a multi-core CPU and GPU technology, the recovery speed is significantly increased. For instance, when performing a heavy load task on an old computer, the processing time will take many days to complete compared to a few hours on a powerful computer.
1.2. Dictionary Attack
The software has a dictionary with millions of commonly used passwords, including words, numbers, special characters, uppercase and lowercase letters, and combinations of all.
1.3. Mask Attack
Exclude some characters you don't use and then enter the characters you think will appear in the password. This way, the mode will rely on the characters you enter and combine them with all possible other characters, excluding the excluded ones.
1.4. Brute Force Attack
While in the Mask Attack option, some characters may be omitted from predictions, the Brute Force Attack mode uses everything. That's why if you choose this method, the password recovery process can take a very long time due to too many incorrect predictions.
Once the software successfully unlocks the password, it will reveal the password. You can copy it and open the password-protected Excel file. Ensure that you have saved the password somewhere or remove the password by navigating to File > Info > Protect Workbook and disabling it.
2. Remove Restrictions in Excel File
Many clients sending a document will have certain limitations. This is useful in many cases because any changes in the format or modifications in the data can cause confusion. However, if you want to customize the document a bit, then these restrictions need to be removed, and that's when the Remove Restrictions feature performs its task.
Run the software, choose the Remove Restrictions mode. It will eliminate any restrictions applied to the file, including read-only, protected Excel sheets, inability to copy spreadsheets, unable to print, and more. Once removed, you can proceed to edit as if you created that file yourself.
In general, anyone looking to recover a password-protected Excel file, Passper for Excel is an excellent solution. It can recover the password to open Excel files and remove the password protection without affecting the original data. Additionally, you can learn how to Unlock Excel Password and remove the password from an Excel sheet here.
