How to Open a Protected Excel 2003 in Excel 2007

Opening Excel 2003 worksheets with Excel 2007 causes no problems at all so long as you have the password protecting the older version of the Excel worksheet. Excel 2003 worksheets are supported by Excel 2007 but Excel 2007 worksheets are not supported by Excel 2003. Once you’ve removed the protection, you’ll be able to open the protected worksheet with Excel 2007 effortlessly, and have the capacity to change it, print it and save it without the password if you want.

Instructions

1. Click “Start,” select “All Programs,” open the “Microsoft Office” folder and then click “Microsoft Excel” to open Excel 2007.

2. Click “File” and then click “Open” to access the files on your computer.

3. Browse through the files on your computer for the password protected Excel 2003 worksheet you want to open in Excel 2007.

4. Select the file in question and click “Open” to open the worksheet.

5. Type in the password for the protected worksheet and then click “OK" to access the file. If you don’t know the password, you’ll have to ask the creator of the file for it or download a password remover from the Internet. Examples of password removing software include Excel Password, Excel Key and Excel Password Cracker (see Resources).

6. Click “File,” “Save As,” select the file type "Excel 97-2003" and then click “Save.” Saving the file in this way will allow the file to be opened in older editions of Excel as well as the newer editions of Excel.

References

• MDM Proofing: Enabling Macros in Excel
• Microsoft Office: Troubleshoot Passwords

Resources

• Excel Password
• Excel Key
• Excel Password Cracker