Unprotect All Sheets

What it does

The reverse of protecting all sheets. You inherit a workbook where every tab is locked down with the same password, and you need to edit. Excel's Review > Unprotect Sheet works one tab at a time. The macro takes the password once, walks every sheet, attempts to unprotect, and reports how many succeeded versus failed.

Real-world example

Picture a financial controller who took over a regional business unit and inherited the prior controller's monthly reporting workbook. Every one of the 18 tabs has sheet protection. The retiring controller left the password in a sticky note (reports2024!). The new controller needs to refactor several formulas across all the tabs, which means unprotect first.

His current method: walk each of the 18 tabs, Review > Unprotect Sheet, type password. About 5 minutes of clicking that he hates because he could be drinking coffee instead.

With this macro he runs the tool, types reports2024!, and 18 sheets unprotect in 1 second. The popup confirms count.

On an 18-tab inherited workbook unprotect, expect about 5 minutes saved. The bigger win: no missed tabs where a stray protection is still on (which then blocks his refactor with a confusing error halfway through).

How to use

First time? See How to run our tools for the 30-second setup.

1. Press Alt + F8 (Windows) or Option + F8 (Mac), pick UnprotectAllSheets, click Run.
2. Type the password (or leave blank if the sheets have no password).
3. The macro attempts to unprotect every sheet. The popup reports successful and failed counts.

FAQ

What if some sheets have a different password than others?

Run the macro multiple times with different passwords. The first run unprotects sheets matching that password, the second run picks up the next set, and so on. The "failed" count tells you how many didn't match.

What if I don't know the password?

Excel sheet protection is not strong cryptography. External tools can crack typical passwords in seconds to minutes. Search "Excel password recovery" for utilities. The macro itself only takes a password and tries it; it can't crack passwords.

Will it unprotect very-hidden sheets too?

Yes. The macro processes every sheet regardless of visibility. Hidden and very-hidden sheets get unprotected along with visible ones.

Will it unprotect workbook-level protection?

No, only sheet-level protection. Workbook-level protection (which prevents adding/deleting/renaming sheets) is separate. To remove workbook protection, use Review > Protect Workbook to toggle it off, which prompts for the workbook password if one was set.

Can I undo it?

Re-protect with Protect All Sheets using the same password. Sheet protection is a state toggle, so unprotecting and re-protecting is symmetric.

What to do next

For the protection direction (locking sheets down), use Protect All Sheets. Both macros pair for the protect-edit-reprotect workflow common in audit and consolidation work.