7 Ways to Remove Password from PowerPoint (Free Ways Included)

remove password from powerpoint

You may want to remove the password from a PowerPoint file when you no longer need to secure it, or in the worst-case scenario, forgotten it and still want to open the presentation. Regardless of the situation, here you will learn a couple of methods to remove a password from PPT online and offline.

However, before you begin, it’s essential to understand that using an online solution to unlock PPTs without passwords may make them vulnerable to exposure to unknown people. In simple words, as you upload a file to a web portal, make sure the vendor is trustworthy. I will also pick up the secure tools for your consideration.

WARNING

Methods explained in this guide are only for educational purposes. Please ensure that you implement the methods only on your own PowerPoint files. The author of this tutorial, the website, its owner, or any of its direct or indirect associates will not be responsible for any privacy breach or information theft that any individual, group of individuals, or organization may cause to any person, group of people, organization, or government body whatsoever.

Introduction to Two Types of PowerPoint Passwords

As with any other program from the Microsoft Office Suite, PowerPoint also has two types of password protection, namely a password to open the PPT file and a password to modify the PPT file. As their names suggest, when you enable both password protections, PowerPoint prompts you to enter the correct one while opening the file. Once you do, the app allows you to open the presentation in read-only mode or enter the modification password to gain full access to the PPT.

As for the removal process, while you can get rid of the modification password without entering it, you must know the one used to open the file to lift that restriction unless you use a third-party solution. Considering this, the following sections explain the processes in detail.

Remove Password from PowerPoint with the Password

In this section, you will learn how to remove passwords from PowerPoint files when you know them. That means you must open the PPT file with unrestricted access, i.e., by entering both opening and modifying passwords. Step-by-step instructions for all are given below.

Method 1: Using the Encrypt with Password Feature to Remove the Opening Password

The ‘Encrypt with Password’ feature is a built-in feature of PowerPoint and it is present on the ‘File Info’ screen. The steps are as follows:

  • Open the PowerPoint file in question with unrestricted access
  • From the menu bar at the top, go to File > Info
  • Click the Protect Presentation tile from the center pane
  • Click Encrypt with Password
  • Delete the password from the Password field on the Encrypt document box
  • Click OK
  • Click Save from the left pane
powerpoint encrypt with password

Method 2: Using the Save As Box to Remove both the Opening & Modifying Password

The ‘Save As’ box has several options, including the interface that enables you to add or remove document access and modification restriction passwords. The steps given below explain how to remove both:

  • Open the PowerPoint file with unrestricted access
  • Go to File > Save As
  • Go to the folder containing the PPT file
  • On the Save As box, click Tools from the lower-right corner
  • Click General Options
powerpoint save as general options

  • Remove the passwords from the Password to open and Password to modify fields
password to open or modify settings

  • Click OK
  • Save the file with the same name (Replace the existing file with this version when PowerPoint prompts)

Remove Password from PowerPoint without the Password

This section explains how to remove modification and opening passwords from a PowerPoint presentation when you don’t know them. Continue reading to learn the processes.

Case 1: Remove PowerPoint Password to Modify

You can remove the password from PowerPoint without a password and make the file adjustable in two ways. Both are explained below.

Note: For the methods to work, your PPT file must NOT have the opening password. If it has, remove the opening password first.

Solution 1: Using Goole Slides

This solution explains the procedure to upload the PPT presentation to Google Slides and save it as a different file to remove the modification password. The steps are as follows:

Step 1: Go to Google Slides

Open Google Chrome and sign in to your Google Account. Open the Apps panel from the top-right area, and click Slides.

Step 2: Open the PowerPoint File in Slides

Click the File picker icon from the center-right area, go to the Upload tab, click Browse, and upload the PPT file.

Step 3: Remove the Modification Password

Go to File > Download and click Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx). Save the file to your PC with a different name.

save presentation to ms powerpoint through google slides

Open the file, and click Enable Editing from the top to make changes.

Solution 2: Using the Free LostMyPass Online Tool

LostMyPass is a cloud solution to remove passwords from PPTs online. It can nullify those required to modify the presentations and this is completely free. The process is given below.

Note: This method works only when the PPT file doesn’t have an opening password and is only restricted from modifications. If it has an opening password, LostMyPass will try to recover it. Know more about this here.

  • Go to the https://www.lostmypass.com/file-types/ms-powerpoint/ URL
  • Finish the robot verification
  • Drop or upload your files to LostMyPass website
  • The tool will start to remove the password from PowerPoint and it only takes seconds
  • Click DOWNLOAD UNLOCKED FILE on the next page to save the unlocked PPT file to your PC
Interface of Lostmypass

Solution 3: The ZIP File Method

This solution requires you to install an archiving tool on your PC. You can use WinZip or WinRAR. This illustration uses WinRAR, and the process is given below:

Pre-Process Setup

Before removing the modification password from a PPT using this method, you must change the file’s extension to ZIP. If you can do that, skip this step. If not, follow the steps below to show file extensions:

  • Use the Search box in the Taskbar to find and go to the File Explorer Options box
  • Go to the View tab
  • Uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types box
  • Click OK
show file extensions

  • Click the PPT file in question
  • Press F2
  • Change the extension of the presentation file from .pptx to .zip
  • Click Yes on the confirmation box
The Process

Once you complete the Pre-Process task, you’re good to proceed to unlock the PPT for modifications without the password. The instructions are as follows:

Step 1: Open the Presentation File in Notepad

Right-click the PPT Presentation in question and go to Open with > WinRAR archiver (or any other archiving tool you’re using).  Next, go to the ppt folder, double-click the presentation.xml file, and choose Notepad from the Select an app to open this .xml file list. Click Just once from the bottom.

use notepad to open the xml file

Step 2: Remove the Modification Password

On the Notepad, go to Edit and click Find. Search for Modify. Select the entire code from <p:modifyVerifier to </p:extLst> and press Delete, leaving the </p:presentation> part untouched. Go to File and click Save. Close the file and click Yes when Windows prompts to save the modified document back to the archive.

delete some code from the xml

Step 3: Access the Unrestricted PowerPoint File

Change the extension of the file back to .pptx and open the file normally.

Case 2: Remove Password to Open a PowerPoint File

In this part, you will learn how to remove passwords without knowing them to open PowerPoint files. First of all, it is crucial to know that you have to recover the passwords, and then remove them through the methods mentioned in this part. They cannot be directly removed like the modifying password. About password recovery, you may want to know how it works, check more details in this post.

Solution 1: Using the LostMyPass Online Tool

As mentioned above, LostMyPass is an online portal that can remove PowerPoint Passwords without knowing them. Actually, it also works great to recover opening passwords.

However, the downside is that the free method can only recover weak passwords and has a 22% success rate. For strong ones, you must go for their paid plan and the success rate increases to 61%. The best part of it is that you only need to pay when LostMyPass really recovers your password. If you want 100% recovery assurance, you must choose their prepaid service and offer some correct clues about the password. 

lostmypass pricing

This is a tool I highly recommend because you can try this tool to recover your password without making any payment ahead and the success rate is 61%. Moreover, it is safe and offers an alternative solution for those who cannot upload their PowerPoint file to others’ servers. You don’t need to upload the file itself. To know more about LostMyPass, check my detailed review.

Using LostMyPass is extremely simple. Just go to this page, complete the robot verification, and upload the file. LostMyPass will do the rest for you. The free method only takes a few minutes. About the Standard password recovery, you don’t need to wait in front of your computer. You can leave your email address and close your computer. LostMyPass will send you an email once the password is recovered.

Now you know the password, and you can then use it to remove the opening password following the guide here.

Solution 2: Using a Third-Party PC Program

This is another secure method to recover opening passwords for PPT files when you don’t remember them. Because your file remains on the local computer during the recovery process, it stays protected against unwanted exposures. However, they are usually paid software.

One of the popular third-party programs you can use to remove passwords from PowerPoint is PassFab for PPT by Tenorshare. The app can also remove PowerPoint modifying passwords directly and quickly, but I’m not talking too much about that here. Let’s focus on how it recovers the opening password for presentation files.

passfab for ppt 1

Dictionary Attack

In this method, PassFab for PPT tries the most common passwords from its built-in dictionary or the one you upload manually.

passfab for ppt 2

Brute-Force with Mask Attack

You can choose this attack type when you already know some parts of the password, such as its length, the types of characters you used, etc.

passfab for ppt 3

Brute-Force Attack

When you choose this attack type, the program tries all possible combinations to guess the password. Since the app uses random combinations, the recovery process may take a significant amount of time. Therefore, you must pick this option only when the other two fail to work.

The process to unlock a PPT without a password using PassFab for PPT is given below:

Step 1: Choose a Password Type to Unlock

Download PassFab for PPT from the https://www.passfab.com/products/powerpoint-password-recovery.html URL. Install and then launch the app. Choose the type of password you want to remove or recover.

Note: PassFab for PPT can recover the opening password and remove the modification password from PowerPoint files.

Step 2: Pick an Attack Type

On the next screen, click Browse and import the password-protected PPT file. Refer to the details given above and choose an attack type. Click Start.

passfab for ppt 4

Step 3: Recover the Password

Wait while PassFab for PPT recovers the password from PowerPoint. Use the password to open the presentation and remove it from the file following this guide.

Conclusion

It could be challenging to unlock a PPT without a password, especially when you do not come from a technical background. I hope the above methods have helped you to remove passwords from PowerPoint.

Michael Yang

Michael Yang

Michael is the founder of ClarifyHow and has also been a test engineer for phones and computers since 5 years ago. He gets various problems while working and fixes most of them by himself or his colleagues, so he would like to share his experience and knowledge.

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