Password protection is considered the most trusted way to secure your Excel 2010 documents. Once in your life you encounter a situation in which you might be having Excel 2010 file but its secured or you encrypted the Excel 2010 document and forgot password. That is the toughest situation. Now the question arises how to crack password protected Excel 2010 file? If you don't have any clue for how to crack Excel 2010 password, you don't have to worry. We have multiple solutions for that. These are the easiest and securest solutions that do not need any detailed knowledge. You just need to go step by step and regain access to your password protected Excel 2010 file.

Method 1. Crack Excel 2010 Password Using 7-Zip

If password to your Excel file has been lost and you have done every possible solution to crack it but haven't succeeded, try this one. It's tricky but not difficult just go step by step. You will be needing 7-Zip software for getting through these steps.

1. You have to enable the extensions for files by navigating to Control Panel > Folder option >View and disable "Hide Extensions for known file types".

2. Now navigate to your Excel file and change its extension from .xlsx to .zip by renaming the file.

xlsx to zip

3. Now open your renamed zip file with 7-zip and navigate to xl > worksheets and extract sheet.XML file(s). These sheets (sheet1, sheet2…) represents total number of sheets to your Excel file.

open zip file

4. Now open the extracted XML file with notepad or wordpad and find the following tag: "<sheetProtection password=… />".

sheet protection

5. Now select the whole tag by highlighting it and remove it.

6. Now save the XML file and save it in the same zip folder by replace the old one.

7. Close the zip file and change the extension back to .xlsx from .zip by renaming it. Your Excel file should be decrypted now.

Method 2. Crack Excel 2010 Password with VBA Code

Another way to crack Excel file is by using VBA code. It is one of the simple method but it has to be done step by step. But first you have keep in mind following points:

  • You have to run code for each sheet in Excel file with multiple sheets.
  • If your Excel document version is later than 2010 then first you have to save the document in previous version workbook (*.xls) i.e. 97-2003, run the macro, and then save it back to original version.

Now go step by step:

1. Open your Excel file and to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications press Alt + F11.

2. Now right click on the workbook name and select Insert > Module.

excel 2010 vba

3. Copy the following code and paste it in dialogue box that will appear in the right pane.

'Breaks worksheet password protection.

Dim i As Integer, j As Integer, k As Integer
Dim l As Integer, m As Integer, n As Integer
Dim i1 As Integer, i2 As Integer, i3 As Integer
Dim i4 As Integer, i5 As Integer, i6 As Integer

On Error Resume Next

For i = 65 To 66: For j = 65 To 66: For k = 65 To 66
For l = 65 To 66: For m = 65 To 66: For i1 = 65 To 66
For i2 = 65 To 66: For i3 = 65 To 66: For i4 = 65 To 66
For i5 = 65 To 66: For i6 = 65 To 66: For n = 32 To 126

ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _
Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & _
Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)

If ActiveSheet.ProtectContents = False Then
MsgBox "Password is " & Chr(i) & Chr(j) & _
Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & _
Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)

Exit Sub

End If

Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
End Sub

excel 2010 vba module

4. Now click on Run button and sit back.

excel 2010 run code

5. When the code is cracked, macro will notify. The password will not be the same instead it will be combination of A's and B's. Click OK and the Excel document is unprotected.

Method 3. Crack Excel 2010 Password with Online Websites

There are multiple online websites that offer online Password removing facility. It's as simple as it seems. There is no rocket science in using online websites. All these online decrypting websites has common procedure.

1. Firstly, navigate to the required website and upload your Excel locked file.

2. After uploading some sites get your email address and mail you decrypted file and some instantly decrypt and let you download after payment.

3. Some of the secure sites that crack Excel 2010 password are:

  • https://excel.xartifex.com/
  • https://www.password-online.com/index.php
  • http://www.password-find.com/

Method 4. Crack Excel 2010 Password with PassFab for Excel

Don't you worry if you lost your Excel 2010 file password. We have got a trusted tool PassFab for Excel to recover your Excel password. A fast and easy solution to recover lost or forgotten passwords for Microsoft Excel file. All the Excel versions 97-2016 are supported by PassFab for Excel. There are 3 powerful attack types wrapped in Excel Password Recovery:

  • Brute Force Attack:

    All possible combination for your password is tried until one matches. Recovering time depends upon the length of the password, longer the password more the time taken.

  • Brute Force with Mask Attack:

    If you remember any of the part of password you can specify it in the mask and this attack will start cracking using that as a hint, it will help you effectively shorten the recovery time compared with brute-force attack.

  • Dictionary Attack:

    A dictionary is specified either built-in or you can specify yourself that is used to crack your password. If used properly it could be the efficient method.

Using PassFab for Excel is not tough. Here is the guide to use it:

Step 1. Open this Excel password recovery tool and to see its main function. In the main interface of this software, please click Add option to import your password-protected document.

add excel file

Step 2. When you add your locked file, you'll see the general info of the file: size, last modified date, and password. The next step is to select a password crack type.

dictionary attack

Step 3. Once you confirm the attack type, click "Start" to crack password. The specific time depends on your password length, complexity and computer configuration. If your computer supports GPU, please select GPU Acceleration option before you click "Start".

start recovery

Step 4. Once the password is found, a dialog window appears and displays your password. Thus, you can use the password to unlock and even remove Excel 2010 password.

password is found

Summary

These were the most secure and easiest methods that are used world-wide to crack Excel 2010 password. If you don't have time to crack manually go use PassFab for Excel software and let software do the task, it also enables you unprotect Excel 2010 workbook without password and other versions. You don't need to be on-board for the result. It will crack the file for you and when finished it will let you know mean time you can carry out you other tasks. So now forgetting password for Excel 2010 document is not a problem anymore.