Excel does not store the password within the XML file. It uses an algorithm to create an adjusted code; then it stores the adjusted code within the file. The protection is removed when any password put through the algorithm creates the same result.
We need to adjust the XML file, then insert it back into the zip folder in the same location. Open a new Excel workbook and copy the following code into a standard module within the Visual Basic Editor. Run the macro above. Select the file which contains the passwords to be removed, then click OK. The macro will create a new file with the modify, workbook and worksheet passwords removed.
Finally, we get to the VBA project binary passwords. Many tutorials suggest using a HEX editor to remove the password. But there is a better and simpler way. There is an amazing macro which confuses the Visual Basic Editor into believing a valid password has been entered. I could not have coded this macro in a million years. If you are the copyright owner of the original code and wish me to remove the code below, please let me know.
By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Excel Off The Grid. Do you need help adapting this to your needs? By taking the time to understand the techniques and principles in this post and elsewhere on this site you should be able to adapt it to your needs. What next? Check out the latest posts:. This code looks amazing! I am running into a runtime error on line I was curious if there was a change that I needed to add or if I copied the text wrong lol.
I wish to thank you by giving this wonderful code. It works perfectly and remove a forgotten password in an Excel Thanks a lot. This is fascinating. Works a treat! If the issue is data security, then the most secure method is to stop access to the file completely by saving it in a location with restricted access. The second is to save with a file open password that will encrypt the data. The purpose of Microsoft using the. If the file is not encrypted, anybody can unzip an Excel file and read the contents using a text editor, every PC in the world has these tools built-in.
Well, I just ran into a. Now what? The old. As stated in the post, this only applies to the newer open source file formats of. Runtime error 76 …. How do i fix this please? As stated in the post — this error is likely to be due to: — The workbook is an xls file type; the macro only works on the xlsx file type.
The file is encrypted. It might be possible to write a brute-force attack macro, but even then it could take years to get in. Thank you so much for this! Works great on most files. It would be nice to operate on xlsb files.
So probably best to search for a 3rd party who has tools to achieve that for you. These tricks doesnt work on a xls file of excel for example, becouse if you change. Thank so much! This code is amazing!. Hi, I am running Remove passwords. I found this problem went away if I put the code into a separate module, not the workbook.
The code then executed fine. I hope this helps. Brilliant work, this code really helped me with some vba passwords from a previous employee who has left the company. Thanks so much, saved me hours. This one does the magic — Thanks.
This is the solution I was looking for, very well explained. I used the XML edit method, thanks! Greetins from Mexico. So I opened a blank file and the file I want to break and put the full VBA password breaker macro into a new module. Hi Greg — as it says in the post, the code to remove the VBA password is not one I could have written.
I have a workbook that should be protected by a password, openable and have only certain cells to edit, but not be possible to change the structure of it, edit formulas or hidden sheets etc. Hi Chris — there is no guaranteed way to really protect and worksheet. You can use the standard options and they will provide a reasonable level of protection. Anything with Macros that trigger on open will be pointless as somebody can just turn macros off.
Great Instructions. Thank you. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.
Learn how your comment data is processed. Blog at WordPress. Thus a VBA password is no hindrance for staticanalysis. However, we might still want to recover the password, just for the fun of it. How do we proceed? For Hashcat, it is mode and you also need to use option —hex-salt. Excel manage the VBA password simply comparing strings, so one method is simply to swap out the password entry in the file using a hex editor In the following example I used HxD — Freeware Hex Editor and Disk Editor.
The described method worked well for me a lot of time, but, if you try to paste the wrong number of bytes into the file, you will lose your VBA project when you try to open the file with Excel. In some cases, this entry will be bytes, and in others it will be bytes. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Copy starting from CMG until the counter reads 8F hex for and likewise when pasting into the locked file - I ended up with twice the number of " I don't know if it is crucial, but I made sure I shut both the hex editor and excel down before reopening the file in Excel. I then had to go through the menus to open the VB Editor, into VBProject Properties and entered in the 'new' password to unlock the code.
My tool, VbaDiff , reads VBA directly from the file, so you can use it to recover protected VBA code from most office documents without resorting to a hex editor. The protection is a simple text comparison in Excel. Load Excel in your favourite debugger Ollydbg being my tool of choice , find the code that does the comparison and fix it to always return true, this should let you access the macros.
And open it in notepad. After extracting VBA scripts from. For Excel bit on a Windows 10 machine, I have used a hex editor to be able to change the password of a protected xla have not tested this for any other extensions. Tip: create a backup before you do this. Question I've been asked to update some Excel macros, but the VBA projects are password protected, and it seems there's a lack of documentation Is there a way of removing or cracking the password on a VBA project?
Tested and works on Excel Excel Excel - 32 bit version. The VBE will call a system function to create the password dialog box. If user enters the right password and click OK, this function returns 1. If user enters the wrong password or click Cancel, this function returns 0. After the dialog box is closed, the VBE checks the returned value of the system function if this value is 1, the VBE will "think" that the password is right, hence the locked VBA project will be opened.
The code below swaps the memory of the original function used to display the password dialog with a user defined function that will always return 1 when being called.
Step by step example: Create a new simple excel file. In the VBA part, set a simple password say - Save the file and exit. Then check the file size - see Stewbob's gotcha Open the file you just created with a hex editor. Save the excel file and exit. Now, open the excel file you need to see the VBA code in. The password for the VBA code will simply be as in the example I'm showing here.
Open the file s that contain your locked VBA Projects.
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