Remove Excel Password Protection – Unlock Open & Modify Passwords Instantly

The Unprotect Spreadsheet API removes open‑ and modify‑password protection from Excel files in a single call. It is ideal for data pipelines, document‑management systems, and migration workflows.

Unprotect Spreadsheet API

Web API

PUT https://api.aspose.cloud/v4.0/cells/unprotection/spreadsheet

Security and Authentication

The Aspose.Cells Cloud APIs are secure and require JWT token-based authentication.

-H "Authorization: Bearer {access_token}"

Request Parameters

Parameter Name Type Location Description
Spreadsheet File FormData The Excel file to be unprotected.
password String Query The password that protects the file for opening.
modifyPassword String Query The password required to modify the file (optional if only an open password is set).
outPath String Query (Optional) Folder path where the unprotected workbook will be saved.
outStorageName String Query (Optional) Name of the storage where the output file will be written.
region String Query (Optional) Spreadsheet region settings.

Response

[
  {
    "Name": "ResponseFile",
    "DataType": {
      "Identifier": "File",
      "Reference": "Stream",
      "Name": "file"
    }
  }
]

A successful response returns the unprotected file as a stream. The file can be saved to the location specified by outPath/outStorageName or retrieved directly from the response payload.

HTTP Status Codes

Code Meaning Description
200 OK Filter applied successfully; response contains operation details.
400 Bad Request Missing or invalid parameters (e.g., unsupported file type).
401 Unauthorized Invalid or missing JWT token.
413 Payload Too Large Uploaded file exceeds size limit.
500 Internal Server Error Unexpected server error.

When should you use the Unprotect Spreadsheet API?

  • Restore Access to Locked Workbooks – Quickly remove forgotten open or modify passwords without manual intervention.
  • Automate Bulk Unlocking – Process large numbers of files in data‑migration or archival projects.
  • Integrate with Existing Workflows – Combine with storage or conversion APIs to create end‑to‑end pipelines (e.g., upload → unprotect → convert to PDF).
  • Maintain Data Security – The operation occurs on the server side, keeping the original files secure while the unprotected version is stored in your cloud storage.

How to use the Unprotect Spreadsheet API with SDKs

OpenAPI Specification

The UnProtect Spreadsheet API Specification provides a publicly accessible programming interface to facilitate direct REST interactions from a web browser.

You can use the cURL command‑line tool to access Aspose.Cells web services easily. The following example shows how to make calls to the Cloud API with cURL.

Use Aspose.Cells Cloud SDKs

Using an SDK simplifies the call by handling authentication, request construction, and response parsing. The SDKs are available for many languages and include ready‑made methods for unprotecting spreadsheets.

The following code examples illustrate how to call the Unprotect Spreadsheet API using various SDKs: