Removing a lock you own should be as quick as setting it was, and it is, once you know that the password lives in exactly two places depending on which lock you set. This guide removes the file-open password both ways, clears the modify password, and unprotects sheets, then proves the job is actually done.
One condition before anything else: every route on this page starts with the correct password. Removing the Password to open from a file you cannot open is not a thing that exists, because that lock is real encryption. If the password is lost, this is the wrong page; the honest options are covered in the companion guide on forgotten passwords. With the password in hand, though, removal takes under a minute.
Password to open: (empty) = encryption removed on save
Password to modify: (empty) = no read-only prompt
Clearing the box is not enough by itself. The file must be saved for the lock to come off.
The direct route uses the same menu that can set the password:
If you set the password with the video's Save As method, the reverse journey is identical:
The open password and the Review tab locks are separate, so clearing one leaves the others untouched. If the file also has them, open it and finish the job:
Sheet passwords are often different from the file password, because they were set by whoever built the format. If a sheet password is unknown but the file opens, remember it belongs to the courtesy family of locks; the data is not at risk.
Do not trust the dialog, trust a fresh open. Close the file completely, then open it again from its folder. Three things must be true: no password prompt appears, the Review tab shows Protect Sheet rather than Unprotect Sheet on every sheet, and the file saves edits without any read-only complaint.
The classic failure is a tidy one: you cleared the password in a Save As copy, and the locked original is still in the folder with a near-identical name. If a prompt still appears, check you are opening the file you actually saved, and check for twins like salary.xlsx and salary (1).xlsx side by side.
Sometimes the right move is to unlock a copy for circulation and keep the master locked. Before you strip protection from the only version of a file, ask why it was locked: payroll data does not stop being sensitive because sharing it got tedious. And even when removal is right, keep the old password in your password manager record. Archives and backups of this same file still carry the lock, and the day you open last year's copy you will be glad the password is written down.
The video sets this password on a real Excel file in about a minute, including the confirmation step and the save.
Watch Full VideoAlmost always one of two reasons: the change was never saved, or it was saved into a new copy while you keep opening the locked original. Repeat the removal, press Save, choose Replace when asked, then close and open that exact file from its folder to test.
No. That password is the key to real AES encryption, and removing it without knowing it would make the encryption pointless. If the file opens but only refuses edits, that is sheet or modify protection, a different and removable family. If the file will not open at all and the password is lost, the honest options are in the forgotten-password guide in this series.
No. Removal only changes how the file is stored on disk, from encrypted to plain. Every value, formula and format stays identical, and sheet contents are untouched. The file may get slightly larger or smaller on disk, which is normal and harmless.