did you forget the excel password? here are some very practical excel password cracking methods.

2025-02-20 15:48:17

In our daily life and work, we often encounter situations where we forget the password of an Excel file. This can be really worrying! Don't worry. Today, I will share with you some extremely practical Excel password cracking methods to help you easily retrieve those forgotten passwords.

I. Understanding the basic principles of Excel passwords

The password of an Excel file is a security mechanism used to protect the content of the file from unauthorized access. The password is usually a string composed of letters, numbers, and special characters. When you open an Excel file with a password, Excel will require you to enter the correct password to open the file. If the password is entered incorrectly, Excel will refuse to open the file.

II. Common Excel password cracking methods

1. Brute force cracking method
   • This is the most basic password cracking method. It tries all possible password combinations to find the correct password.
   • However, due to the large number of password combinations, this method usually takes a long time to find the correct password.
   • To improve the efficiency of brute force cracking, you can use some password cracking tools, such as John the Ripper, Hashcat, etc. These tools can use the powerful computing power of the computer to quickly try a large number of password combinations.
2. Dictionary attack method
   • The dictionary attack method is a method that uses a known password dictionary to try to crack passwords.
   • The password dictionary is a file containing a large number of common passwords, such as "123456", "password", "admin", etc.
   • By trying each password in the password dictionary one by one in the Excel file to see if it can open the file, the correct password can be found.
   • To improve the effect of the dictionary attack, you can use some custom password dictionaries, such as dictionaries containing your username, phone number, birthday and other information.
3. Social engineering method
   • The social engineering method is a method that uses human psychological weaknesses to obtain passwords.
   • For example, you can deceive the other party and let the other party tell you the password; or you can guess the other party's password by observing the other party's behavior.
   • Although this method is unethical, it may be very effective in some cases.
4. Using Excel's built-in password recovery function
   • Excel has some built-in password recovery functions, such as the "Forget Password" function and the "Macro Virus Protection" function.
   • The "Forget Password" function can help you retrieve the forgotten Excel file password. You just need to follow the prompts to operate, and Excel will automatically try to crack the password.
   • The "Macro Virus Protection" function can prevent macro viruses from infecting Excel files and automatically restore the files when they are infected.

III. Using the password cracking tool Hashcat to crack Excel passwords online

Hashcat is a very powerful password cracking tool that can be used to crack various types of passwords, including Excel file passwords. The online version of Hashcat (https://www.hashcatonline.com/) provides the function of supporting hash decryption without uploading files. It does not require manual operation and there is no risk of data leakage. It is very suitable for personal and enterprise use.

The following are the steps to use Hashcat to crack Excel passwords online:

1. Open the Hashcat online version website (https://www.hashcatonline.com/).
2. Select "Excel" as the file type to be cracked.
3. Click the "Select File" button and select the Excel file to be cracked.
4. In the "Hash Type" drop-down menu, select "Excel 97-2003" or "Excel 2007+" according to the version of your Excel file.
5. In the "Hash Value" text box, paste the hash value of the Excel file to be cracked. You can obtain the hash value of the Excel file through other tools, such as the "certutil" command built into the Windows system or online hash value generation tools.
6. In the "Dictionary File" text box, select the password dictionary file to be used. You can use the default password dictionary file or upload your own password dictionary file.
7. Click the "Start Cracking" button, and Hashcat will start to try to crack the password of the Excel file.
8. The cracking process may take some time, depending on the complexity of the password and the performance of your computer. You can view the cracking progress and results during the cracking process.
9. When the cracking is completed, Hashcat will display the cracked password. You can copy the password to the clipboard and then use this password to open the Excel file.

IV. Precautions

1. Using password cracking tools to crack passwords is an illegal act unless you have legal authorization or reasons. Before using password cracking tools, please make sure that you have obtained legal authorization or reasons.
2. Password cracking tools may cause a certain burden on the computer system, especially when cracking complex passwords. Before using password cracking tools, please make sure that your computer system has sufficient performance and resources.
3. Password cracking tools may disclose your passwords or other sensitive information. Before using password cracking tools, please make sure that you have understood the usage methods and risks of the tools and have taken corresponding security measures.

In short, forgetting the password of an Excel file is a very common thing, but we don't have to worry too much. By using the above methods, we can easily retrieve the forgotten Excel file password. At the same time, we should also pay attention to protecting our passwords and avoid revealing passwords to others. If you have any questions or need help about Excel password recovery, please feel free to contact me. I will do my best to provide you with help.