Excel Password Security 

ZIP Process to Reveal Excel XML Content
Can any document be truly password protected? Probably not. So what might seemingly be solid protection to keep rogue agents out of your Excel files can be cracked in about 5 minutes.

Whether you are cracking the Excel Sheet password or VBA code password, you must first convert the Excel file, xlsx or xlsm, to a compressed ZIP file to extract the XML content in the file. We're not physically "converting" or sending your Excel file to a compressed ZIP file. Instead, we're just tricking Windows into thinking your file is already a compressed ZIP file. 

  • First, copy the locked Excel file to a clean folder. It's best practice to leave the original file alone.
  • Next, we need to trick Windows into thinking your Excel file is a compressed ZIP file. That's easy,....   just rename the file. You can do this for both .xlsx and .xlsm files.

  • Now as a ZIP file, we can Extract the "contents". Right-click and Extract All...

  • Once the ZIP file has been extracted, a new folder structure will be available. Drill down through the subfolders and explore the files within. First, drill down into the "xl" subfolder. 
  1. If you are cracking the VBA Code Page password, you will need to edit the vbaProject.bin file.  
  2. If you are cracking the individual Sheet passwords, then drill further down into the "worksheets" folder, and use the sheet's .xml file of the sheet name you will need to edit.

Now that you know which file you are going to work with, continue by clicking one of the links below...

  1. If you are cracking the VBA Code Page password,  click HERE to continue.  
  2. If you are cracking the individual Sheet passwords,  click HERE to continue.


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