A VBA password is used to protect VBA source code from viewing or modification.

Prior to Office 2000, VBE 5.1 passwords can be readily recovered, and are not secure.

Upon the introduction of Office 2000, VBE 6 was introduced which strongly encrypted VBA passwords, but the security scheme is less than perfect.  The original password can't be recovered, but it can either be removed, or replaced with another password.

Our recommended software can also recover password protected .XLA modules.  The recovery time for VBA files is instantaneous, as the password is not decrypted.

Recommended software

We've used several VBA recovery tools for Word and Excel files.  One tool (which we won't name) recovered version 97 VBA passwords correctly, but when we tried it on version 2000 files, the passwords didn't work.

We have come to rely solely on Elcomsoft's Advanced VBA Password Recovery Pro software.  It hasn't let us down yet.  It allows you to recover all Excel and Word 97 VBA passwords, and reset (rather than recover) version 2000/XP Word and Excel VBA passwords.  It also works for .XLA files.  In our experience, this package does not recover other VBA passwords (e.g. Powerpoint).

The software is simple to use and stable, and there are free upgrades for registered users.  Since we have used it for so long, we can thoroughly recommend it to anyone who needs a powerful VBA password recovery package.  If you need to recover different password types, we recommend Ultimate Zip Cracker (which can remove Office 2000 VBA passwords), but if you need to only recover or reset VBA passwords, then this package is highly recommended.

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Our recovery service

Password-find.com provides a fast, low cost data recovery service for password protected Word or Excel documents (including all VBA modules), a free downloadable guide plus independent reviews and trial downloads of Word, Excel and VBA recovery software.