How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

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Word for Microsoft 365 Word 2021 Word 2019 Word 2016 Word 2013 More...Less

Removing a password from a document is a simple process, but you have to know the original password.

  1. Open the document and enter its password.

  2. Go to File > Info > Protect Document > Encrypt with Password.

  3. Clear the password in the Password box, and then click OK.

Need more help?

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Are you trying to open your protected Word document but forgetting your password? Throughout this article, you will learn how to unlock a Word document with or without password. Although the Word software does not let users open their documents without a password, there are methods you can use to unlock your Word document even without a password.

In this article

Part 1. How to Unlock Your Word Document with a Password?

When you know the password, the unlocking process is simple and easy. This section will teach you how to unlock Word documents with password in different versions of MS Word.

Unlock Word Documents in Word 2007 and Earlier

Step 1: Open your Word document and enter its password

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 2: click on the orange Microsoft icon on the top left corner and choose the Save as option.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 3: in the new window that opens, click Tools > General options.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 4: Clear the password in the Password to open field. You can also remove the password protection to modify your Word password. Then, click OK.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 5: Rename the file if you don’t want to overwrite the original document. Then click the ‘Save’ button. Your Word document is now unlocked.

Unlock Word Documents in Word 2010/2013/2016/2019/Microsoft 365

Step 1: Open your Word document and enter its password

Step 2: Click File > Info > Protect Document > Encrypt with password.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 3: Clear the password and click OK to unlock the password-protected file in the pop-up window.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Part 2. How to Unlock a Word Document without Password

Method 1: Unlock Word Document with Guaword

Unlike other password decryption tools for Word, Guaword is not an application or webpage; it’s a command line guaranteed to crack any password of Word documents for free.

Step 1: Back up your document in an external drive.

Step 2: Download and extract Guaword.exe onto a folder of your computer, such as the desktop.

Step 3: Copy your .doc file (for example, abc.doc) to the same folder of the Guaword program.

Step 4: Press the shortcuts Start + R. The command window will pop up on your screen

Step 4: Type cmd in the new window and then go to the location of the guaword.exe file

Step 5: Now, type Guaword (name of the Word document).doc and press Enter. The decryption will start.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Note: Guaword only works for older versions of Word documents on Windows or Linux computers.
The password crack process may take a long time.

Method 2: Unlock a Word Document with MS Visual Basic for Application (VBA)

If a command line utility is not attractive to you or you are unwilling to install third-party software, the MS Visual Basic for Application (VBA) built-in Windows system is a good choice to access and recover the password.

Step 1: Open your Word document.

Step 2: Press ALT + F11 to open Visual Basic Editor

Step 3: You will see your file in the new window. Right-click on the file name and select Insert > Module.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 4: A new blank window will open. Please copy and paste the following code into it.

Sub PasswordBreaker()

    Dim i As Integer, j As Integer, k As Integer
    Dim l As Integer, m As Integer, n As Integer
    Dim i1 As Integer, i2 As Integer, i3 As Integer
    Dim i4 As Integer, i5 As Integer, i6 As Integer

    On Error Resume Next
    For i = 65 To 66: For j = 65 To 66: For k = 65 To 66
    For l = 65 To 66: For m = 65 To 66: For i1 = 65 To 66
    For i2 = 65 To 66: For i3 = 65 To 66: For i4 = 65 To 66
    For i5 = 65 To 66: For i6 = 65 To 66: For n = 32 To 126
         ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _
            Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & _
            Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)
         If ActiveSheet.ProtectContents = False Then
            MsgBox "Password is " & Chr(i) & Chr(j) & _
                Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & _
                Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)
          Exit Sub
         End If
    Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
    Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
End Sub

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 5: Click on the Run icon. The recovered password will display on a small pop-up box that helps you open your Word document.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Note: VBA also only works for older versions of Word documents on Windows computer.
Using VBA, you cannot crack the Word document password longer than 3 characters.

Method 3: Recover Password of Word Documents with Online Word Password Unlocker

There is plenty of online password decrypting tools for Word documents on google. By googling the “online word password recovery tool,” you can see and use the one best suited for your needs.

The Word password unlocker you will learn in this section is lostmypass. The lostmypass.com website offers a free tool for recovering the password of your Word documents. The process is quite easy to follow, and the interface is user-friendly. Let’s see how lostmypass works.

Step 1: Type “lostmypass.com” in your browser.

Step 2: Upload your Word document to the lostmypass Word password recovery.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 3: The website will start cracking your password automatically. When the process is done, a new window will open that shows you the password.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 4: Copy the password to unlock your Word document.

If you are interested in cracking complex passwords, try ifindpass.com. The website offers different methods for recovering your document’s password, does so with great speed, and charges a relatively small amount of money for decrypting complex passwords.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Method 4: Recover a Word Document’s Password with Word Password Recovery Software

Aside from the online tools, a lot of Word password recovery software is available to help you unlock your Word documents. Throughout this article section, you will learn how to use a free and easy-to-use software called Passper. Let’s see how you can use Passper to unlock your documents.

Step 1: Visit passper.imyfone.com and download the software.

Step 2: After installing and opening the software, select the option Recover Passwords.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 3: Add your password-protected Word document to the program by clicking the Add button.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Step 4: Once the document is uploaded, you will see 4 recovery methods designed to recover password under different circumstances. Choose the one depending on your situation.

Step 5: Finally, click Recover to start the password recovery process. Once the process is finished, the password will be displayed on the software. Copy the password to unlock and open your Word document.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Suppose you are looking for paid-for software with premium features such as GPU-acceleration, we recommend iSunShare Word Password Genius, as it uses smart algorithms and GPU acceleration to decrypt your Word document’s password much faster. In addition, the software has autosave, meaning that if the decryption is stopped before completion, it will remember how far it had gone.

How do you unlock a Word document without the password?

Part 3. What to Consider Before You Unlock Word Documents Without a Password

Word documents often have the vital information you need and must have access to, but keep in mind that some websites or software used for unlocking Word documents can have malware that will harm your computer or laptop. Other aspects you must consider are that if you attempt to open another person’s file without their knowledge, they can sue you for vast sums of money. So, be careful.

Conclusion

Unlocking word documents is not complicated, and the process is further simplified with the help of online tools and software. Choosing the best software for unlocking Word documents will ensure a fast and easy experience.

Is it possible to unlock a Word document without password?

Right-click on the document you need to unprotect and select Open with -> Choose another app. Select WordPad in the list of apps. Skip this step if WordPad editing options are enough for you - once open in WordPad, document will be unprotected.

How can I open a locked Word document?

Resolution.
Quit all instances of Word. To do so, follow these steps: ... .
Start Windows Explorer, and then browse to the folder that contains the document file that you tried to open when you received the error message..
Delete the owner file. ... .
Start Word. ... .
Open your document..

How do I remove a password from a Word document that is read only?

How to remove the read-only setting from password-protected documents.
Open the document in Word. ... .
Select the tab labeled "Review" ... .
Click on the "Protect" button. ... .
Select "Stop Protection" ... .
Save the changes you made..