Usually, a PowerPoint presentation may contain some company secret documents, school projects, financial reports, and personal data. To protect your information, it is essential to set up a password in PowerPoint. But there will be moments when you don’t know the password, or you would like to share the presentation without any restrictions. Then the knowledge about how to remove password from PPT will be necessary for you.
Depending on what kind of protection was set for your presentation, you will have various ways to deal with the situation. In this article, all of the possible solutions will be described in details.
Important Note: If the PPT is protected with the help of the password for opening, it will be impossible to remove the protection restrictions without the password itself.
Why Remove a Password from a PowerPoint Presentation?
There are some good reasons for removing passwords from the PPT document:
- Make your presentation easily accessible to others without any need of entering the password.
- No need to enter the password each time you access the presentation file.
- Before making any change, delete editing restrictions.
- Presentations ready to be made public.
Lastly, it is easy to manage presentations once you know how to remove password from PPT.
Types of Password Protection in PowerPoint
Before jumping into the main context of removing password protection from PPT, it’s important to know which kind of password is set.
- Password to Open
The whole presentation gets encrypted. It requires the password to be entered to view the slides.
- Password to Modify
This option allows the users to open the presentation without edit access unless the right password is entered. What if you want to lock a PPT, check this article on lock PPT from editing.
#1: Remove Password Using the Built-in PowerPoint Feature
It is the simplest and best way if you have the password.
Step 1: First, open Microsoft Powerpoint and check the PPT file that is password protected.
Step 2: Type the Password
Enter the password for opening the presentation.
Step 3: Click File
After that, tap File in the top-left corner.
Step 4: Select Info
Next, pick Info from the left navigation pane.
Step 5: Choose Protect Presentation
Click on Protect Presentation and then click Encrypt with Password.
Step 6: Remove the Password
Password will appear in the Password dialog box. Clear all the characters from the box.
Step 7: Click OK.
Step 8: Lastly, save your presentation.
It is the official method provided by Microsoft to remove password from PPT.
#2: Remove Password to Modify Using Save As
If the presentation has protection against modification only, then it is possible to delete the modify password.
Step 1. Open the PowerPoint presentation.
Step 2. Choose File → Save As.
Step 3. Locate where you want to save the presentation.
Step 4. Choose Tools near the button Save.
Step 5. Choose General Options.
Step 6. Remove the password in:
- Password to open (if present)
- Password to modify
Step 7: Click OK.
Step 8. Finally, save the presentation.
#3: Save a New Copy Without Restrictions
It is observed that often, when you create a fresh copy, it is helpful for organizing files. Here are the steps:
- Open the PowerPoint presentation by using the password.
- Remove the password through the use of encryption.
- Select the Save As feature.
- Save the presentation with a different name.
Make sure that the new file can be opened without asking for the password.
#4: Use a Professional Password Recovery Solution – If you have Forgotten the Password
There are times when the user knows that he had a copy of the presentation but has forgotten the password that will allow him to view the presentation. In these cases, manual techniques cannot be used to eliminate the encryption since PowerPoint needs the password first before making any changes.
A good example of a program that can recover lost passwords is the SysTools PowerPoint Password Recovery Software.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Problems often arise when trying to remove passwords from presentations. These include:
- Not saving the file after removing the password.
- Only removing the modify password but not the open password.
- Attempting to recover the password without authorization or knowing the password.
- Modifying the original presentation without backing up the presentation file.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is there any way to delete a PowerPoint password when I don’t have it?
Ans. No, in case your document is password protected, you first need to enter it and then be able to delete it.
Q. Would removal of a password impact anything within my presentation?
Ans. No, removal of password does not have any effect on presentation slides, animations, formatting, or images.
Q. Is there a way to delete the protection from editing but not opening?
Ans. Yes, it is possible to remove the password protection from modification. To do this, you can navigate to Save As → Tools → General Options. However, make sure you know the password.
Q. Would my password reappear after saving?
Ans. No, once you deleted it and saved the file, the document would open without password prompt.
Final Words
Knowing how to unlock PPT password will come in handy if you need to share your presentations, work with other people, or get rid of any additional security. Microsoft PowerPoint provides an easy way to unlock the passwords that protect your files either when opening or modifying them, but only if you know the password. In case you have forgotten it, there will be no other choice but to recover the password first.
Using the ways suggested above, you will be able to unlock the password without damaging your presentation.
