Excel: Sheet Protection

To remove sheet protection from an Excel file:

1. Rename the file to a .zip extension.

2. Extract the zip file.

3. Open Notepad++.

4. Search > Find in Files 

5. Find what: <sheetProtection.*?>

6. Replace with: {nothing}

7. Directory: {choose the unzipped folder}

8. Search mode: Regular expression

9. Click "Replace in Files".

10. In Explorer, go into the folder.

11. Select all files.

12. Right-click a file > the unzipped folder > Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.

13. Rename the file to .xlsx (or .xlsm).