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12300314 asked 12300314 answered

Excel popup on opening "This document is both encrypted and password protected"

Hi there,

I have a user who has the following popup every time they open Excel, even if they are not opening a document directly:

116316-image.png

The version of Office is Microsoft 365 MSO 16.0.14131.20296 64-bit.

I have found a number of older posts related to this issue (such as this one) that all recommend creating a reg key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Security, however as I am on the latest Office, I only have 16.0. I have tried to create the "Security" key and then the DWORD value in my corresponding 16.0 folder but it makes no difference.

I have also tried both a quick and online repair of Office.

Any other suggestions would be greatly welcome.


windows-10-generaloffice-excel-itprooffice-itpro
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12300314 avatar image
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12300314 answered

Hi all,

I have solved it - a fairly obvious solution I did not consider for some reason. I created the NoPromptForRC4Encryption key (and set value to 1) under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Security and I am no longer receiving the prompt.

Thanks for all your help.

Thanks,
Jamie

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emizhang-msft avatar image
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emizhang-msft answered 12300314 published

Hi @JamieHassallClarke-8015,
Based on your description, this problem only appear in a specific user.
Did this problem appear in all Excel Workbooks or specific Workbook? Where did you store the file?
Try this method:

*HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\<application>\Security\Crypto*

Create a registry key: CompatMode and set to 0.

Try it and check the result, please let us know if you would like further assistance.


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@emizhang-msft

Re. Did this problem appear in all Excel Workbooks or specific Workbook?
@JamieHassallClarke-8015 wrote (before the pic.): every time they open Excel, even if they are not opening a document

Hope this makes sense & helps

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Forgot to mention that the issue was also raised on MsAnswer here


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Thanks for your response.

In answer to your first question - it happens if you open Excel normally or if you open any sheet. Strangely, it does not happen if you open Excel or open a spreadsheet once you have at least one Excel window open.

I have tried adding the key mentioned but this has not resolved the issue:

F7yX0hg

I also cross posted this to Technet here and they suggested just creating the 12.0 key from the other threads but this has also made no difference.

Any further suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.


0 Votes 0 ·

Thanks for your response.

In answer to your first question - it happens if you open Excel normally or if you open any sheet. Strangely, it does not happen if you open Excel or open a spreadsheet once you have at least one Excel window open.

I have tried adding the key mentioned but this has not resolved the issue:

F7yX0hg

I also cross posted this to Technet here and they suggested just creating the 12.0 key from the other threads but this has also made no difference.

Any further suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.


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StacyClark-5656 avatar image
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StacyClark-5656 answered 12300314 commented

Just do a Save As and save as the new format.

· 1
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Hi there - this happens when opening any Excel spreadsheet and even when just opening Excel normally.

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Lz-3068 avatar image
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Lz-3068 answered emizhang-msft commented

Hi @JamieHassallClarke-8015

Fixing this kind of issues isn't in my area of expertise + I really don't like
When my PC becomes unstable (very very rare) for a reason or another most of the time I clean-up the room and re-install as my experience tells me that trying to fix something I don't really understand or that should not happen: 1) Can take a lot of time; 2) Risk is quite high that the fix will only be a short-term one and I'll face some other issues later

If it was me, given there's only have 1 user experiencing the issue I would be very pragmatic:
- See if issue persists starting Excel in Safe Mode
If no issue, it's highly probable there's an add-in or something similar that's the root cause
Check the content of XLSTART folder, just in case

  • If issue persists in Safe mode, create a new user account on that PC

  • If issue persists with a new account => Office uninstall support tool > Re-install

Hope this makes sense


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Hi @12300314,
Just checking in to see if the information of Lz-3068 was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

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