Common Situations We Solve
Set a password years ago and forgot it completely
Received a file from a colleague who no longer works there
File was protected for archive and the password was lost
Tried too many wrong passwords and the file is now locked
Password was in an old note or email that's been deleted
Inherited a file from someone who has passed away
Set protection 'temporarily' and forgot to remove it
Old business file from a company system you no longer access
What Are Your Options Without a Backup?
Professional Recovery Service (Us)
Upload your file. Our GPU cluster attempts billions of combinations. You pay only if we succeed. Works for all Excel versions.
VBA Macro Trick (Sheet only)
For Excel 2010 and older, certain VBA macros can bypass sheet protection — but NOT workbook open passwords. Won't help if the file won't open.
Basic Online Utilities
Most are fake, some are scams. Legitimate lightweight utilities only handle very simple passwords with CPU attacks. Unlikely to succeed on anything set after 2007.
Desktop Software
Tools like Passware or Elcomsoft cost $50-200 and require your own GPU. Steep learning curve, and you still pay even if they fail.
Before You Upload: Things to Try
1Search your email for any message where you shared the password
2Check your password manager — even old ones you stopped using
3Try variations of passwords you used around that time period
4Look for a .bak backup file in the same folder (Excel sometimes creates these)
5Check if an older unprotected version exists in a cloud backup (OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox)