Choose your Excel file for a free check. Llaves will explain whether it can try to find the password or prepare an unlocked copy. Your original workbook stays on your device, unchanged.
Can you see the cells?
TWO DIFFERENT LOCKS
When does Excel ask for the password?
Before you see any cells
Password needed to open
Check your file for free
After the workbook opens
Changes are restricted
An editable copy may help
Excel asks for a password before opening: the password protects the whole workbook. We may be able to try a password search. A long or random password may not be found.
The workbook opens, but you can’t change cells or sheets: we may be able to prepare an editable copy. You do not need to choose an encryption method; the file check identifies the supported options.
Microsoft’s guide to protection and security in Excel explains the difference between protecting the whole file, worksheets and workbook structure. Its file-password guidance states that Microsoft cannot retrieve forgotten passwords.
Try these checks before spending money
- Search your password manager using the project or sender’s name.
- Check the email or conversation that delivered the workbook. The password may have arrived separately.
- Ask the sender for the password or an editable copy.
- Check backups and earlier copies. Make sure their figures and formulas are current enough to use.
- If you remember a likely password, check capitalization and keyboard layout.
What does Excel password recovery cost?
Checking your file is free. An editable or unlocked copy prepared on your device costs $9.99 USD before tax to download, only if it is ready and you choose to save it.
A password search on our servers costs $9.99 USD before tax for one attempt lasting up to five minutes after it starts. Waiting for it to start can add time. The fee applies even if the search finishes without finding the password. If a service failure prevents us from completing it, you receive a full refund. There is no subscription or account requirement.
Your whole workbook is not uploaded. A password search sends only the information needed to test passwords. We learn any password we find. Your browser checks it against your original before showing it. Keep the original available and save the password before closing the tab. How recovery and payment work.
Is it an older XLS workbook?
Some older workbooks can be unlocked on your device without finding their original password. Some need a longer search that may take days or longer, with no guarantee of success. You can pause and save progress before leaving. A prepared copy costs $9.99 before tax to download; an unsuccessful on-device search does not create a charge.
The free file check identifies the options available for your workbook.
Excel formats and size limits
The server password-search method supports Office Agile AES-256/SHA-512 files with a 16-byte salt and 100,000 iterations. Other variants may be unsupported. Office password checks accept files up to 64 MiB (about 67.1 MB), subject to other processing limits.
On-device methods support editing restrictions in readable XLSX and supported macro-enabled files, some older BIFF8 XOR-protected XLS workbooks with sufficient verifiable data, and full 40-bit searches for supported Office 97 binary RC4 XLS. The older-file methods return copies, not original passwords. Inputs are limited to 16 MiB (about 16.8 MB).
Downloaded copies preserve other workbook contents, including macros. Check the copy in Excel before relying on it.