Защита документа с помощью пароля — отличная идея. Но ровно до тех пор, пока вы не сможете вспомнить пароль, чтобы его разблокировать.
Microsoft Office с 2007 года использует 128-битное шифрование AES . Взлом 128-битного ключа AES — чрезвычайно трудоемкий процесс. При достаточно надежном пароле файл останется в безопасности, даже используя известные способы взлома AES-128.
Наконец, стоит оценить прочность пароля в разных версиях Microsoft Office :
- Office 95: Слабое шифрование преобразует пароль в 16-разрядный ключ; доступно мгновенное дешифрование
- Office 97 и 2000: длина ключа шифрования увеличивается до 40 бит; доступно мгновенное дешифрование
- Office XP и 2003: длина ключа остается в 40 бит, но Microsoft добавляет специальный алгоритм защиты от шифрования; доступное быстрое дешифрование в зависимости от пользовательского алгоритма
- Office 2007: имеется AES с добавлением хэш-функции SHA-1; восстановление пароля затруднено
- Office 2013: все еще использует AES-128, но алгоритм хеш-алгоритма обновляется до класса SHA-2, используя SHA-512 по умолчанию; восстановление пароля чрезвычайно сложно
Использование чрезвычайно длинного пароля при использовании Microsoft Office 95 имеет минимальный эффект, поскольку алгоритм шифрования уязвим. И наоборот, Office 2013 предлагает больше защиты файлам с более слабыми паролями благодаря более сильным алгоритмам шифрования и хэширования.
5 лучших средств восстановления паролей Microsoft Office
Если у вас документ из старой версии Microsoft Office, то очень хорошие шансы на удаление или извлечение пароля. К сожалению, тем, кто пытается взломать пароли в новых версиях редактора, почти наверняка не повезет.
1. Free Word and Excel Password Recovery Wizard
Программа пытается разблокировать файлы, используя либо словарь, либо атаку грубой силы (как и большинство других инструментов в этом списке). Попытка поставить современный файл Microsoft Office приводит к ошибке.
Существуют варианты настройки обоих типов атак. Атака словаря использует разные размеры случаев с возможностью пользовательского списка слов, в то время как атака грубой силы использует переменную длину пароля, а также вариант настраиваемого набора символов.
Поддержка: Microsoft Word и Excel 95-2003
2. Word Password Recovery Master
Word Password Recovery Master — еще один полезный бесплатный вариант для удаления и восстановления пароля. Он поддерживает широкий диапазон версий Microsoft Office. Но во время тестов программа не могла восстановить или удалить базовые пароли, созданные с помощью Office 2010. Программа также отмечает, что она не поддерживает пользовательские типы шифрования, а только стандартное шифрование Microsoft Office.
Поддержка: Microsoft Word и Excel 95, 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, заявляет также о поддержке 2010, 2013
3. Elcomsoft Advanced Office Password Recovery
Elcomsoft Advanced Office Password Recovery — профессиональный и мощный инструмент. К сожалению, платный. Программа обладает широким спектром функций, позволяя использовать пользовательские словари, пользовательские наборы символов и длины переменных паролей.
Поддержка: все версии Microsoft Office
4. CrackIt!
Это очень старый взломщик паролей, разработанный первоначально для Windows 95. Тем не менее, он по-прежнему работает на Windows 10 и не требует установки. Для взлома используется базовый подход, предлагающий только грубую силовую атаку, с ограниченными словарями. Работает только в старых файлах Microsoft Word и Excel.
Поддержка: Microsoft Word и Excel 97, 2000, 2003
5. SmartKey Office Password Recovery
Отличная программа, стандартная версия — $ 24,95.
Поддержка: все версии Microsoft Office
Итог
Для взлома одного файла от старой версии Microsoft Office вам хватит и бесплатной программы с почти гарантированной расшифровкой. Новые документы, к сожалению, чаще всего не смогут взломать и платные инструменты. Разве что вы использовали легкий пароль.
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Protecting your zombie romance whodunnit novel draft with a super strong password was a great idea. That is until you cannot remember the password to unlock the Microsoft Office document. And now there is no way in.
Luckily, several really useful programs remove Microsoft Office password protection. Here are five of the best.
Microsoft Office and Password Protection
Before we begin, let’s get one thing straight. You should only use these tools to remove passwords from your own documents. When you use one of these tools on any other documents, there is a chance you’re committing a crime. We want nothing to do with that.
It is also useful to understand just what the password recovery program is doing. Microsoft Office password recovery programs fall into two categories: tools that remove and tools that recover. Both are useful but serve slightly different purposes. Furthermore, understand what the password does.
Microsoft Office from 2007 onwards uses 128-bit AES encryption. Cracking a 128-bit AES key is an extremely time-consuming process. With a sufficiently strong password, the file will remain secure, even using known AES-128 breaks.
Finally, we consider password strength in relation to the Microsoft Office version:
- Microsoft Office 95: Weak encryption converts the password to a 16-bit key; instant decryption available
- Office 97 and 2000: Encryption key length raises to 40-bits; instant decryption available
- Office XP and 2003: Key length remains at 40-bits, but Microsoft adds a custom encryption algorithm protection option; fast decryption available depending on the custom algorithm
- Office 2007: AES is available, with the addition of the SHA-1 hashing function; password recovery is difficult
- Office 2013: Still uses AES-128, but hash algorithm updates to SHA-2 class, using SHA-512 as default; password recovery is extremely difficult
We see that using even an extremely long password while using Microsoft Office 95 has minimal effect as the encryption algorithm is vulnerable. Conversely, Office 2013 offers more protection to files with weaker passwords due to stronger encryption and hashing algorithms.
If you have a file from an old Microsoft Office version, there is an extremely good chance of removing or extracting the password. Unfortunately, those seeking to crack passwords on newer Microsoft Office versions are almost certainly out of luck.
1. Free Word and Excel Password Recovery Wizard
Supports: Microsoft Word and Excel 95-2003
The Free Word and Excel Password Recovery Wizard is one of the first options to consider. The program attempts to unlock files using either a dictionary or brute force attack (as do most of the other tools on this list). Attempting to put a modern Microsoft Office file results in an error.
There are options to configure both attack types. The dictionary attack uses different case sizes with the option of a custom word list, while the brute force attack uses variable password length as well as the option of a custom character set.
2. Word Password Recovery Master
Supports: Microsoft Word and Excel 95, 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007, claims also to support 2010, 2013
The Word Password Recovery Master is another useful free option to consider for password removal and recovery. It supports a wide range of Microsoft Office versions, making it useful in solving a wide number of issues.
The claims of support, however, aren’t completely truthful. During my tests, the program couldn’t recover or remove basic passwords created using Office 2010, so I have further doubts about its ability to remove encryption on later versions.
However, Microsoft Office 2003 passwords were easy to remove. The program also notes that it does not support custom encryption types, only default Microsoft Office encryption.
3. Elcomsoft Advanced Office Password Recovery
Supports: All Microsoft Office versions
Elcomsoft’s Advanced Office Password Recovery (AOPR) is our first professional tool. As such, it comes with a price tag. In this case, you get what you pay for.
At $49, the Home Edition is the cheapest option. However, it doesn’t allow GPU use for cracking or removing passwords and relies solely on CPU power (and the Home Edition is limited to a single CPU, too).
GPUs are more efficient password crackers so if you’re serious about removing that password; I would suggest upgrading to the $99 Standard Edition.
Aside from price, AOPR has a wide range of features, allowing for custom dictionaries, custom character sets, and variable password lengths, as well as running short pre-brute force dictionary attacks just in case. Also, if you know anything about the password you can «mask» information to streamline the process.
AOPR is guaranteed to work on older Microsoft Office versions. The program also successfully unlocked several test documents I ran, though the passwords weren’t particularly difficult. Given enough time, AOPR seems like a great choice (albeit costly if you are only unlocking one file).
4. CrackIt!
Supports: Microsoft Word and Excel 97, 2000, 2003
CrackIt! is a slightly older password cracker, developed originally for Windows 95. However, it still works with Windows 10 and better still, requires no installation, running as a simple executable. It is basic, only offering a brute force attack, with limited dictionaries too. But it will work for those basic passwords, on older Microsoft Word and Excel files.
5. SmartKey Office Password Recovery
Supports: All Microsoft Office versions
SmartKey’s Office Password Recovery program is another worthwhile paid-for tool if you’re in a password protection pickle. Like Elcomsoft’s AOPR, if given enough time this program will crack an AES-128 key (so long as the key isn’t that difficult). Furthermore, the user interface is one of the nicest amongst the password cracking tools and is certainly one of the easiest to use.
The Standard version will set you back $24.95 but doesn’t allow GPU acceleration. With that in mind, I’d pay the $34.95 for the Professional version that allows up to 32 CPUs and eight GPUs.
Sure, there are more Microsoft Office document password cracking programs out there. The majority offer the same functionality as the above programs; other paid options cost more but offer the same range of features.
You must understand that you will not crack every password, especially those using the latest Microsoft Office encryption, especially in combination with a sufficiently strong password. Throw in a multi-word passphrase and you’re looking at thousands of hours to decrypt a single file, if it is even possible (hint: it isn’t).
Image Credit: Amaviael/Depositphotos
Being a part of the corporate world, it is important to transfer data after encrypting them i.e. password protecting them. This feature of encrypting a document comes in wherein you can create a password for your documents and keep the content within confidential. Remembering passwords is quite tough and here is when the need of good password recovering software really feels.
However, you can take help of a robust password manager- TweakPass to store all your confidential details in a secured vault. It is a browser extension that helps you keep a track of all your internet passwords from a single place. You can not only save your passwords, but you can also retrieve them anytime you forget.
Download TweakPass Password Manager
Well, let’s not shift from our topic that includes the list of best Word password recovery tools. These recovery tools will help you unlock your Word document, the password of which you have lost or forgotten. Don’t hassle yourself by deleting the secured file you cannot open, and starting from scratch. You can anytime take help from the efficient Word password recovery tools.
What Is A Word Password Recovery Program?
A word password recovery program lets you either discover or remove the security on your Word file. Recovering the password of a word file that prevents you from making any edits or even opening is only possible using a word password recovery program. What recovering word password does?
- The word password recovery program lets you recover or remove the word document open password, and
- It removes or recovers the Word password with edit restrictions.
Most of these recovering Word password tools ask you for a certain amount before it could help you in recovering Word document passwords. While there are a few Word document password recovery tools that can help you recover, remove, and crack the program. The best of the recovery tools are listed in this article.
Top 4 Word Password Recovery Tools
Check out this list of the best tools to recover passwords of encrypted word documents.
Disclaimer: Using a Word password recovery program is legal only to remove the security on the permissible Word file. It can be a DOC or DOCX file that you set a password on but later forgot.
1. Free Word and Excel Password Recovery Wizard
Download
The best free tool to unlock Word or Excel files by recovering their passwords. Free Word and Excel Password Recovery has the ability to select and strategize your attack type. To recover passwords of Word document, you’d have to attack a file in two ways, i.e. Dictionary Attack or Brute Force Attack. What does this mean? Dictionary Attack uses a custom word list, while Brute Force Attack applies variable passwords. While you use this tool to recover Word document password, you first have to select a password protected file, select an approach, wait for a while, and bingo! You got your recovered password.
Pros
Allows you to select the attack type.
High processing power.
Easy-to-use wizard.
Also available as a Word password recovery tool online.
Cons
Lacks support for the newest file format.
Setup file inside ZIP archive.
2. CrackIt!
Download
CrackIt, as the name itself speaks it is the suitable and quick way to crack and recover Word document passwords. It is an excellent and a free tool that works efficiently with Word documents. This free Word password recovery tool is quite similar to our first bet i.e. Free Word and Excel Password Recovery Wizard. The password cracking process is too simple. All you have to do is download the exe file from the download link below. Double click on the download file and that’s it. You‘ll see the wizard open, asking you to enter the document name manually or browse through the system files. Once selected, click on Crack it and that’s it! You have the password recovered.
Pros
Easy to use and quick recovery wizard.
Has multiple password recovery options.
A portable tool.
Cons
Still continuing on the old interface.
3. GuaWord
Download
Last but not the least, GuaWord is another amazing tool that can be used for recovering Word passwords quickly and with no hassles. This utility can decrypt Word files including French Word (any version). This utility service is available for Windows and Linux. This program helps you remove any length and any-language password from the document. It is not an usual password recovery software. GuaWord is a free utility that is fully-functional and works efficiently with no password length restrictions.
Pros
No restrictions on password length.
Minimal interface with no further confusions.
Cons
Takes a bit longer to process.
No graphical user interface.
4. Word Password Recovery Master
Download
When it comes to recovering a word document password, Word Password Recovery Master is yet another best bet to opt for. You can remove the document open password and recover the document edit password using this password wizard. This helps you to crack modified passwords that can somehow be recovered if not longer than three characters. It hardly takes 10-20 seconds to remove a document’s open password. You can later on open the file with no need of passwords. You can break multiple MS Words passwords in a go. Amazing isn’t it? You can further add a password to restrict anyone from using the cracking functions.
Pros
The recovered passwords can be copied to clipboard easily.
Includes features not found in similar programs and easy to use.
Cons
A tool with limited features.
Wrapping Up
That’s all folks! Try all these or any one of these Word password recovery programs to decrypt your encrypted Word document. You can recover passwords, remove passwords or crack them as and when needed in no time. These tools hardly take a minute or so to give you details regarding your Word document password.
Tried these tools? Which one is your favorite? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Akshita Gupta is an experienced blogger with a strong know-how of Mass Communication and Journalism. Her affinity for writing enables her to share her knowledge and experiences with the best set of audience. She believes in helping people understand their systems and devices.
A Word (.doc or .docx) file can be protected by a password. Once a password is appended, you will receive a warning message when you are trying to open the encrypted word document as following:
If the correct password was input, then you can read the content from the Word file. If you forgot Word password, then you have to take extra steps to retrieve the missing password.
Honestly, cracking Excel password is tough. But cracking Word password is tougher. You will hardly find any document or article on the web that would help you crack Word password. So, we have mentioned 4 different utilities that would help you do the same. Each of these utilities have their own pros and cons, which we have listed here too, so that when you are trying to choose which utility to use, you can make a wise decision.
Crack Word Password Method 1: Recall from Memory
From my own experience, I only use a couple of passwords for different situations. That is the case for most of people. In such a case, we could find out the right password by searching in our memory. Currently, this is the simplest method to open a password protected Word file. In fact, you can try as many as possible and the document would be locked. This is an serious pitfall of Word encryption mechanism.
Do ask you family members , friends or colleagues if you could find the password from memory. Sometimes, they do help, especially it is a shared document.
However, this might not work in some cases and we have to crack Word password with password recovery software. We will share four effective tools for this.
Crack Word Password Method 2: CrackIt!
CrackIt! is a dedicated free tool made by Jack Kennel for cracking password from Word and Excel. This portable utility does not require installation and can run from PC directly. In general, it is a great candidate to crack word password for old doc files.
However, this is a freeware, and as such does not comes with any guarantee for success. This also does not have a support team, so in case you are stuck somewhere, you will have to rely on the internet for help. In addition, this utility only supports Brute-force attack and does not have dictionary-based attacks like Dr. Word.
Step 1:Download the zip file from this website (http://www.filesriver.com/app/146/crackit) and fire up crackit.exe after decompressing.
Step 2: Now choose the locked Word files using the Browse button, and select the alphabets. These alphabets are the ones whose combinations this utility will use to guess the password.
Finally, click on the Crack It! button to start the process. Once it has found the password, it will show you the same on a small pop-up box. You can note that down somewhere, and next time use it to open the Word file.
Pros:
- Free
- No installation.
- Small in size.
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Only support Word 97 and Word 2000 document.
- Only brute-force attack available.
Crack Word Password Method 3: iSeePassword Dr. Word
Like I said a while ago, there are very less Word password recovery software and most of them are not getting updates for years. And the user interface is ultra out of date. But it is not the case for iSeePassword Dr.Word, a modern and powerful tool be used to crack Word password. Most importantly, it supports the latest Word 2019 with three password cracking engines.
Simply put, Dr.Word is an easy to use but versatile tool for cracking Word password in case you have forgotten the same. It helps you recover open password, and remove restrict password for MS Word file. They have a professional technical support team, so you do not need to worry in case you stumble across a problem while using this program. They also have a free version of this available on their website, you can give that a spin.
Step 1: Download the latest version of Dr.Word installation file from our blog and install it on a PC.
Download
Step 2: Open up iSeePassword Word Password Recovery and you will get 2 options from the beginning window, including Recover Open Password from Word and Remove Restrict Editing in Word. Please choose the first one to crack MS Word password.
Step 3: Now, you will be asked to import the locked Word file. Please do so using the Add File button.
Step 4: You also need to specify the attack type on this window. There are 3 password attack types within Dr.Word.
Dictionary Attack: Check a built-in dictionary and tries to find a match for the password.
Mask Attack: Very useful if you remember the password partially.
Brute-force attack: Try all possible combinations of characters and numbers.
Please choose one as per your situation, and press Start. Remember, Mask Attack takes the shortest time. However, you need to remember the password partially.
Step 5: Once Dr. Word has found the password, it will show you the same on a small dialog box. Write it down somewhere. Next time you open the Word file and it asks you for a password, simply use this to unlock the document.
Pros:
- Flexible password cracking options.
- Modern user interface.
- Quite effective to crack the password.
- Support CPU and GPU acceleration.
- Get fast reply from support team.
Cons:
- Free version can only crack 3-character password.
- Only work on Windows PC.
Crack Word Password Method 4: Hashcat Toolkit
You may hear the name Hashcat as it is a big name in password cracking field. It is one of the most powerful tools to crack passwords from Word, Excel, PDF and other file types. And it is favored by millions of hackers and data analysts all across the world, mostly because it has seven core attacking modes and supports 100+ algorithms, including MD5, SHA2, AES, Microsoft Office 2003 – 2016. Besides these, it also supports GPU hardware acceleration, which is a big plus for reducing password cracking time. Currently, you can use this free password cracking tool on Windows, Linux, macOS and Unix.
However, Hashcat is not created for entry-level users as you would notice it immediately since it is a command line based utility. In addition, it requires using additional tools to extract hash from protected document. So, if you are not used to type commands on a black screen with white fonts, then Hashcat is probably not for you.
Step 1: Before getting started to crack Word pasword with Hashcat, you have to extract password hash from encrypted Word document. This can be done with the help of Office2John. The installation instructions are given on their GitHub project. The password protected Word file should be in the same folder where Office2John sits.
Step 2: Download Hashcat binaries from here (https://hashcat.net/hashcat/) and unzip hashcat-6.2.4.7z file.
Step 3: Now, use Office2John to obtain the hash code for from the locked Word file and save it to hash.txt. Don’t forget to copy this file to Hashcat folder afterwards.
python office2john.py encrypted-word-file.docx > hash.txt
Step 4: Remember to replace encrypted-word-file.docx with the real name of your own Word document in the previous step.
Step 5: Find the Hashcat example hashes for MS Word. Here is the full list. Below is example for MS Office.
Step 6: Open Command Prompt on your PC and get into Hashcat folder. And type this command to start cracking password from MS word file.
hashcat -m 9600 -o pwd.txt hash.txt example.dict
Remember to replace 9600 with the ID for the right version of Word file. Finally, Hashcat will unlock and store the password in the file named pwd.txt.
Pros:
- Support both .doc and .docx file.
- Faster password cracking speed with hardware acceleration.
- Totally free.
- Powered by various password attack modes.
- Built-in with example hashes.
- Work on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Cons:
- Only command-line interface available.
- Example hash can not crack strong password.
- Unable to extract hash from Word file.
- Steps are too complicated for beginners.
Crack Word Password Method 5: LostMyPass.com
Cracking Word password with online service is not a new thing. It has been a trend in recent years because of fast adoption of cloud computing technology, such as Amazon Web Service and Microsoft Azure. LostMyPass is an online service aimed to crack Word passwords. It is free, but only for weak passwords.
For stronger passwords, they will charge you for cracking the Word file. There is also another drawback to using this service, as mentioned earlier this is an online service. So, to crack the password, you need to upload to file on their server.
Personally, I am will not be comfortable doing this in case my Word file contains sensitive information/content. Also, you can upload a file of maximum size of 100 MB.
Step 1: Go to LostMyPass Word Password Recovery page and agree to their Terms & Conditions by clicking the checkbox.
Step 2: Now, it will ask you to drag-and-drop the Word file, which will be sent to their server and begin the process of cracking the Word file.
Step 3: In case it is successful, it will give you the option to save the unlocked file on your PC. Otherwise, it will ask you to make the payments in case your Word file is protected by a strong password. That’s it, no further steps required!
Pros:
- Free for weak password.
- More computing power with distributed servers.
- Simple steps and no software installation.
Cons:
- Pay for strong password (most likely).
- Potential issues with data leaks.
If you are asking me which method I would choose, iSeePassword Dr. Word is much more perfect choice in order to crack Word password. It’s a power yet easy to use utility, and they have a support team to help me out if I need any.
After that, Hashcat would be my second choice since it supports a wide variety of algorithms. Once you fully know how it works, then you can use this program to crack password from different files. However, I know my way around a command line since I have used Linux extensively. If you haven’t, I would suggest you to stick to Dr. Word since it has a nice user interface.