Wednesday, April 20, 2011

What To Do If You Forgot An Excel Password


If you forgot the Excel password that you used to protect your Excel spreadsheet, all is not lost. There are ways of getting back into your password protected spreadsheet. The same techniques work if, for instance, someone has left the company but conveniently forgotten to let you know the password they used to protect one or more of their files. Of course, you shouldn't use these techniques to spy on people without their consent!
Even before the first thing below, if the file is someone else's then try the password "password". You'll be surprised just how often that's used!
The first thing to do - and very much the quickest way to retrieve a forgotten excel password - is try your normal passwords. Most people have a repertoire of a handful of different passwords that they use to protect their documents so it makes sense to try those first.
Next up are names and number combinations. A bit like the lottery, certain numbers crop up more than others - mainly ones to do with birthdays. Children's and spouses names also show up.
By now if you haven't got the forgotten or mislaid password cracked you'll be getting bored and wondering if there's a better way.
This is where computers come into their own.
There is software available which will help to retrieve that forgotten excel password. Most of the better software out there costs a few dollars but it's a lot better to do that than to waste too much time typing in every possible combination (and then some) in the hope of opening up the file.
Beware trial software. Most of the time it will take the same time as paid for software to find the missing password but at the end of its search it will likely sit there smugly and tell you that it's found the password but it won't tell you until you pay the ransom fee to unlock it. Which is often a higher fee than the paid-for software you'd already looked at. The trouble being that you've now got a time investment so you're more likely to pay the extra money to get the letters from that forgotten excel password.


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