Remove password protection from Excel (.xlsx) files — no password needed.
If you've inherited a locked spreadsheet, forgotten your own password, or just need to edit a file that won't let you in, this tool strips the protection in seconds and saves a clean copy.
Excel Unlocker is a C# utility that removes sheet protection and workbook structure locks from Excel files. It works by extracting the Excel file's internal XML structure, removing protection elements, and repackaging the file.
- Remove sheet protection from all worksheets
- Unlock workbook structure (lockStructure parameter)
- Preserve original file formatting and data
- Simple command-line interface
- Colorful ASCII banner
The tool operates by:
- Renaming the .xlsx file to .zip (Excel files are compressed archives)
- Extracting the archive contents
- Removing
<sheetProtection>elements from worksheet XML files - Changing
lockStructure="1"tolockStructure="0"in workbook.xml - Recompressing the modified files
- Outputting the unlocked file as
unlocked_file.xlsx
- .NET 6.0 or higher
- Windows, Linux, or macOS
- Run the application:
dotnet run- Enter the name of the Excel file you want to unlock:
Input file name (es Example.xlsx):
MyProtectedFile.xlsx
- The unlocked file will be saved as
unlocked_file.xlsxin the same directory
dotnet buildClone the repository and build the project:
git clone https://github.com/simopisa/ExcelUnlocker.git
cd ExcelUnlocker
dotnet build- This tool is intended for unlocking your own Excel files where you've forgotten the password
- Always keep a backup of your original file
- The output file is always named
unlocked_file.xlsx - Only works with .xlsx files (Excel 2007 and newer)
This tool is provided for educational purposes and to help users recover access to their own files. Users are responsible for ensuring they have the right to unlock any files they process with this tool.
Made by simopisa