Excel Armor FAQ

Microsoft Excel 2016 or newer for Windows, 32-bit or 64-bit (it auto-detects). Excel for Mac and Excel Online are not supported. If you use the compile-to-.NET path, you install the free .NET Framework 4.8 and the .NET SDK once on your own build machine. Your customers need none of that.

Put the Excel Armor folder in a permanent location, keep its files together, open the workbook and enable macros. The Excel Armor tab appears in the ribbon automatically. A few features ask you to tick one Trust Center box ("Trust access to the VBA project object model"), which takes a moment.

No. They receive a finished file, open it, and the protected add-in registers itself. There is nothing to compile, no .NET to install, and your protected logic is not visible to them. The experience stays Excel-native.

The click-to-protect layers take seconds: open the file, click a button on the Armor ribbon, save. The optional path that compiles your logic into a .NET add-in runs in a single step after a one-time install of the free build tools.

Work on a copy and keep your original workbook as your source, apply the protection layers in the order they appear on the ribbon, and combine more than one layer. Layered protection is stronger than any single setting, and Excel Armor guides you through the order.

A menu you choose from: code protection for your VBA, sheet protection, whole-file encryption, cell-level data encryption, and the strongest option, compiling your business logic out of VBA into a compiled, obfuscated .NET XLL add-in. You pick the combination that fits how you ship.

Because defense in depth is stronger than any single lock. Excel Armor lets you stack protections, and for high-value work you can move the logic out of VBA entirely into compiled, obfuscated .NET, so the original source is not in the file you ship.

Compile your business logic to a .NET XLL add-in, add code protection to whatever stays in VBA, and lock sheets if they are sensitive. Whole-file encryption is usually skipped for distributed tools because it asks every user for a password on every open.

For trusted internal users a VBA password is usually enough, optionally with hidden modules. The heavier options are aimed at code you distribute outside your organization.

Use whole-file encryption to require a password to open it, or cell-level Data Encryption to scramble just the values while leaving the rest of the workbook usable. Both use genuine encryption, not a hide trick.

It fits one-to-one handoffs where you share the password directly with the recipient. Note that it prompts for the password on every open, and with real encryption the password is the only key, so store it safely.

It moves your business logic out of VBA into a compiled .NET XLL add-in that ships alongside a thin Excel workbook. The shipped add-in contains compiled code, not your readable source, so what you distribute is not your original VBA.

Yes. Excel Armor converts all of your business logic to real, high-level VB.NET and compiles it into a .NET add-in for you. The only things that stay in VBA are your UserForms (the dialog boxes, which carry no business logic) and a few edge cases, and those are handled as part of the conversion, you do not fix code to make it build. You also receive the readable VB.NET source, so the code is yours. It is a real, complete conversion to a high-level language. See how it works.

It genuinely converts. Excel Armor turns all of your VBA business logic into real, readable, high-level VB.NET, then compiles and obfuscates it into a .NET add-in, so the business logic actually leaves VBA and you receive the high-level source. That is a true conversion to a high-level language, not just hiding the code in the editor.

Yes. The user-interface layer stays in VBA because Excel routes interface events to VBA, and only your business logic moves to compiled .NET. The experience is unchanged for your users.

Yes. Excel Armor returns readable VB.NET source, so you stay fully in control of your own code rather than being locked into a black box.

You make the change in your source and recompile the add-in, then ship the new release. You keep the readable VB.NET source, so you remain in control of every update.

No. They open the workbook and the add-in registers automatically. There is nothing for them to install or configure.

It is real encryption. Whole-file protection uses Excel's AES encryption, and the cell-level Data Encryption uses genuine AES-256. This is real cryptography, not a setting that hides things from the editor.

No. Data Encryption scrambles constant values and leaves formula cells alone, so your calculations keep working. You decrypt with the same password to restore the values.

With real encryption the password is the only key, so a lost password cannot be recovered, by anyone. Store your keys safely, the same as you would for any encrypted file.

They get a finished release. They open the workbook, the protected add-in registers itself, and they use your tool normally. No build steps, no source code, nothing extra to install.

Your compiled logic is not present in the file as readable code, so there is nothing to copy out. Any interface stubs that must remain in VBA can be given additional code protection.

Excel Armor scaffolds code signing with your own certificate, so your add-in ships signed and is recognized as coming from you. A signed add-in is what business users and IT expect.

One-time. Both Migrator and Armor are perpetual licenses with 12 months of updates included. Optional maintenance after the first year is about 25% of the license price for continued updates, and founding-launch buyers lock in their renewal pricing for life. See pricing.

Activation is machine-bound through a quick login with your license key and email. If you forget your key or password, use the recovery option on the login form or email support.

An update button in the product lights up when a new version is available and is greyed out when you are already current. Updates are included for 12 months from purchase.

There is a 14-day full-refund window, plus a free PDF guide and a free 2-minute self-assessment that show exactly how it works. You can also ask for a proof of concept on your own add-in before you commit.

Judge the approach. The protection is real, compiled and obfuscated .NET plus genuine AES encryption. It is built by a longtime VBA developer and backed by more than 1,500 automated conversion tests, and the site is transparent about what each option does. A 14-day refund, a free assessment, and a proof of concept on your own file let you verify it for yourself. Being new also means you get direct founder support and active development.

Ask one question: after protection, is your original code still inside the file? Many cheaper tools only hide it (a password or an unviewable setting) or wrap the file, so the code is still there and can be recovered, for example by copying a sheet into a new workbook or with free tools. Real protection removes the code from what you ship. Excel Armor converts your logic to compiled, obfuscated .NET so the source is no longer in the file. Not sure where your workbook stands? Run the free 2-minute check.

The VBA project password and the unviewable trick only hide your code in the editor, the code itself still sits inside the file, and both are well known to be removable in seconds. Our YouTube playlist includes a short demonstration of the unviewable trick being undone in a single click (shown for demonstration only; we do not share the tool that does it). Excel Armor instead converts your business logic to high-level VB.NET and compiles it out of the file into obfuscated .NET, so there is no readable source left to reveal. More in the protection guide.

By its own documentation, XLS Padlock wraps your workbook into a standalone program that still runs your VBA inside it. Excel Armor takes a different approach: it converts all your business logic into high-level VB.NET, compiles and obfuscates it into a native Excel add-in, and returns your VB.NET source while keeping the Excel experience. Compared with building .NET yourself, Excel Armor automates the whole conversion with more than 1,500 tested patterns and bundles obfuscation, code-signing scaffolding and licensing in one product. See the honest comparison.