I own an excel document that has IRM enabled and can't remove it

Question

I created a document without IRM a while back and now I've come to open , it has IRM and I can't open the document. How do I remove?

Answer 1

Hi @nigel crewe
Welcome to Microsoft Q&A platform and thanks for posting your query here.
Based on the information you provided, it seems like you are experiencing issues with an Excel document that has IRM (Information Rights Management) enabled and you are unable to remove it.

If you have previously enabled IRM on the document, you will need to disable it in order to open the document. Here are the steps to disable IRM in Excel:

1. Open the Excel document that has IRM enabled.
2. Click on the "File" tab in the ribbon.
3. Click on "Info" in the left-hand menu.
4. Click on "Protect Workbook" in the center pane.
5. Select "Restrict Access" and then click on "Remove IRM".
6. Enter the IRM credentials if prompted.
7. Save the document.

If these options are not available or appear grayed out, it's possible that the document is protected by a sensitivity label with encryption settings. In such cases, only the original author or an administrator with the necessary permissions can remove the protection. You may need to contact your organization's IT administrator for further assistance.

For more detailed information, you can refer to Microsoft's official documentation on restricting access to workbooks with IRM

Hope this helps. Do let us know if you any further queries.

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