How to Unlock Password Protected Word Document for Editing

Have you forgotten or misplaced your Word document password? And don’t know how to unlock password protected Word document? Well for starters, you should know that the only option in this scenario is to bypass or recover your password to unlock that particular word file. So, in this article, we are here with 3 effective ways to open password protected Word document.

• Way 1. Unlock Password Protected Word Document with VBA Code
• Way 2. Unlock Password Protected Word Document with Password Recovery Bundle (Best Method)
• Way 3. Unlock Password Protected Word Document without Software

Way 1. Unlock Password Protected Word Document with VBA Code

VBA or Visual Basic for Applications as we all know is a programming language used by Office programs. You can use this method to unlock Word document for editing. It is used by many people and it is a proven way to deal with locked Word files. Here’s how you can do it:

Step 1: Navigate to MS Word and open a brand new Word document.

Step 2: Press “Alt”+“F11” together on your keyboard.

Step 3: Tap “Insert” and then again tap “Module”.

Step 4: Enter the VBA code below to unlock Word file.

Step 5: Now, press “F5” to run the code. Find the protected Word document, and hit “Open”.

Step 6: The unlock password will be shown on a small window.

As you can see you will get the required password to unlock protected Word document. Sometimes, this method may not work if the previous password had many characters. If that’s the case, you can follow the next method.

Way 2. Unlock Password Protected Word Document with Password Recovery Bundle (Best Method)

The easiest and by far the best method here to unlock password protected Word document 2010 or any other version is by using Password Recovery Bundle. It is a potent password recovery software that is designed to recover any type of file passwords with ease. It can easily recover 70 file types with a proven recovery rate. Here’s unlock Microsoft Word document password with Word Password Recovery in this software:

Step 1: Download and install Password Recovery Bundle and directly hit the “Recover Passwords for Files and Archives” option.

Step 2: Now find and tap the “Word Password Recovery” option.

Step 3: Tap Open icon to get the locked Word document.

Step 4: Choose a suitable attack type from the drop-down menu:

• Mask
• Brute-force
• Smart and
• Dictionary

Step 5: Finally, hit “Start” to run the program.

Step 6: You will get notified with the recovered password on a small window. Simply press the copy button and hit the Open button.

Step 7: Just enter the password and hit Ok.

It is as simple as that! No matter how many characters or how complicated your previous password was, this program can recover them with ease and that too really fast. It is undoubtedly the best software around to unlock Word document password.

Way 3. Unlock Password Protected Word Document without Software

If you keen not to use any software to unlock protected Word document, you have to modify a few details. For this method, you have to keep some things in mind. Firstly, this method may not work every time and secondly, it is very cumbersome. Nonetheless, follow the steps below to try it on your own:

Step 1: Open the password protected Word file.

Step 2: Tap Save As and select Word XML Document from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Find the document and right-click to open the file in Notepad.

Step 4: Press “Ctrl” and “F” together to get the Find dialog box.

Step 5: Enter “enforcement” in the field text.

Step 6: You will find the following words: w:enforcement=”1″ or w:enforcement=”on”.

Step 7: Simply replace the “1” with “0” or replace the “on” with an “off”.

Step 8: The above step will disable any enforcement and will unlock the file. Don’t forget to save the document.

Step 9: Now again, right click on this XML document, and open it with MS Word.

Step 10: once it is opened, go to Save As and select save as Word document from the drop-down menu.

That’s it! Now you will be able to edit and see the document anytime. This is how to open password protected Word document without software.

Conclusion:

In this article, we have provided the 3 best ways to unlock password protected word document 2010/2016/2013/2007/2003 etc. The VBA method is effective but it may trouble you if you had a big password earlier. The method using Notepad or without the use of software is very cumbersome and it may not work in some cases! So, we highly recommend you to go for Password Recovery Bundle as it is very effective and a proven way to get your Word file unlocked fast. It is safe to use and very user-friendly as well. Go for it!