Remove and Change Passwords in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

There are various reasons why you would want to encrypt your PowerPoint file with a password. There are two password levels you can implement within a PowerPoint file: a password to open and a password to edit. However, even if you add a password to your presentation, there may come a time when you want to remove it. Or, you may want to change the password. PowerPoint 2016 provides a very simple way to add a password. However, there is no obvious or intuitive command to remove or change the password protection. Follow these steps to learn more:

1. First open your password protected presentation. You might be prompted to type in your password during opening or editing. Do type in your password(s).
2. Then access the File menu, and choose the Save As option, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 1. You can also use the F12 keyboard shortcut.
   
   
   Figure 1: Save As option within File menu
3. Now click the Browse button, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2.
   
   
   Figure 2: Browse button within the Save As Pane
4. This brings up the Save As dialog box, as shown in Figure 3. Click the Tools button located at the lower right of the resulting Save As dialog box. From the pop-up menu that appears, select General Options, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3.
   
   
   Figure 3: General Options selected
5. This brings up the General Options dialog box that you can see in Figure 4. As you can see in Figure 4, this presentation has the Password to open field already populated. To remove the password, just place your cursor in the text box, and delete the password or passwords you want to remove (Open, Modify or both). Similarly, overwrite any old passwords with new ones to change your passwords.
   
   
   Figure 4: General Options dialog box
6. Once the password(s) are deleted or changed, click the OK button.
7. You will get back to the Save As dialog box (see Figure 3). Now, make one of these choices:
   
   i. To overwrite your previously password protected file, do not change the file name.
   
   ii. To make a copy of your password protected file that has the passwords removed or changed, type in a new file name.
8. If you choose the former option, PowerPoint will ask you whether you want to replace the existing file with the new file (see Figure 5, below). Click Yes to continue. Alternatively, if you chose the latter option, then you will see no such warning and PowerPoint will continue saving the presentation to a new file name.
   
   
   Figure 5: Do you want to replace an existing file?
9. Save your presentation often.

See Also:

Remove and Change Passwords in PowerPoint 2013
Remove and Change Passwords in PowerPoint 2010