Unprotect/ Unhide worksheets in excel workbook

Documentation

Remove Excel Workbook Protection

A quick, manual workaround to remove structural protection from an Excel file by modifying its underlying XML structure. No third-party unlocking software required.

Important Pre-requisite

Always make a backup copy of your .xlsx file before attempting this. Editing XML files manually can corrupt the spreadsheet if done incorrectly.

1

Open with a ZIP Editor

Excel files are essentially compressed ZIP archives containing XML data. Right-click on your protected Excel file and select Open with, then choose any standard ZIP archive software (e.g., WinZip, WinRAR, or 7-zip).

2

Locate and Edit workbook.xml

Inside the archive, navigate into the xl directory. Locate the file named workbook.xml. Extract it or open it directly using any standard text editor (like Notepad, VS Code, or Notepad++).

3

Delete the Protection Tag

Use your text editor's search function (Ctrl+F) to look for workbookProtection. Delete that entire line, making sure to remove everything from the opening < to the closing /> bracket.

Example of what to delete in workbook.xml:

<!-- Delete this entire block of code -->
<workbookProtection workbookAlgorithmName="*******" workbookHashValue="***" workbookSaltValue="*****" workbookSpinCount="****" lockStructure="***"/>

Save the file, update it inside your ZIP archive, and you're done!