If you forgot a Word document password, check the file for free. Your original won’t be uploaded or changed. Llaves explains what it can try before you decide whether to pay.
Can you read the document?
Word asks for a password before showing the text: we may be able to search for it. Being able to search a file is not a guarantee of finding the password.
You can read it, but can’t edit: we may be able to prepare an editable copy instead. This is different from finding an opening password. You can also ask the owner for an editable copy.
Look for the password or another copy
- Check the message that delivered the file and any separate password message.
- Search your password manager using the filename, project and sender’s name.
- Ask the sender for the password or another copy.
- Look in backups or shared folders for an earlier copy with the text you need.
- If you remember a likely password, check capitalization, keyboard layout and accidental spaces.
Microsoft’s Word password documentation explains that Word cannot recover a lost password for you. For a workplace file, your IT team may have a recovery arrangement already in place. Ask them before paying for a search.
What does Word password recovery cost?
The file check is free. If an editable or unlocked copy can be prepared on your device, downloading it costs $9.99 USD before tax. You only pay if a copy is ready and you choose to save it.
A search on our servers costs $9.99 USD before tax for one attempt of up to five minutes after it starts. Waiting for it to start can add time. A long or random password may not be found. You pay even if the search finishes without finding the password. If a service failure prevents us from completing it, you receive a full refund. No account or subscription is required.
Some older DOC files can be unlocked on your own device. A longer search may take days or more; pause and save progress before leaving. These methods produce a copy rather than the original password. Failed preparation does not create a charge.
What happens to my document?
The full document stays on your device. For a server password search, we send only the information needed to test passwords. We learn any password we find. Read the privacy details.
If a password is found, your browser checks it against the original before showing it. Save the password and use it to open the file in Word. If you download an editable or unlocked copy, check its text and formatting before relying on it. Your original stays unchanged.
Word formats and size limits
Server searches support Office Agile AES-256/SHA-512 DOCX files with a 16-byte salt and 100,000 iterations. Other encryption variants may be unsupported. Office password checks accept files up to 64 MiB (about 67.1 MB), subject to processing limits.
On-device methods include editing restrictions in readable DOCX/DOCM, some older XOR-protected DOC files with enough predictable text, and full 40-bit searches for supported Office 97 binary RC4 DOC. Inputs are limited to 16 MiB (about 16.8 MB). Removing protection can invalidate signatures; other contents, including macros and attachments, are preserved.
An IT administrator’s DocRecrypt arrangement must have been in place before the file was encrypted. Setting it up after access is lost does not make that file recoverable.