Removing the mot de passe from a VBA project

Microsoft 365 & Office Excel & VBA
1

How can I programmatically remove a (known) password from an Excel VBA project?

To be clear: I want to remove the password from the VBA Project, not the workbook or any worksheets.

2

Another way to remove VBA project password is;

  • Open xls file with a hex editor.
    (ie. Hex Edit http://www.hexedit.com/)

  • Search for DPB

  • Replace DPB to DPx

  • Save file.

  • Open file in Excel.

  • Click “Yes” if you get any message box.

  • Set new password from VBA Project Properties.

  • Close and open again file, then type your new password to unprotect.

UPDATE: For Excel 2010 (Works for MS Office Pro Plus 2010 [14.0.6023.1000 64bit]),

  • Open the XLSX file with 7zip

If workbook is protected:

  • Browse the folder xl

  • If the workbook is protected, right click workbook.xml and select Edit

  • Find the portion <workbookProtection workbookPassword="XXXX" lockStructure="1"/> (XXXX is your encrypted password)

  • Remove XXXX part. (ie. <workbookProtection workbookPassword="" lockStructure="1"/>)

  • Save the file.

  • When 7zip asks you to update the archive, say Yes.

  • Close 7zip and re-open your XLSX.

  • Click Protect Workbook on Review tab.

  • Optional: Save your file.

If worksheets are protected:

  • Browse to xl/worksheets/ folder.

  • Right click the Sheet1.xml, sheet2.xml, etc and select Edit.

  • Find the portion <sheetProtection password="XXXX" sheet="1" objects="1" scenarios="1" />

  • Remove the encrypted password (ie. <sheetProtection password="" sheet="1" objects="1" scenarios="1" />)

  • Save the file.

  • When 7zip asks you to update the archive, say Yes.

  • Close 7zip and re-open your XLSX.

  • Click Unprotect Sheet on Review tab.

  • Optional: Save your file.