Protecting multiple workbooks in a directory - Automation

Hi everyone,

I have joined this forum to request your expert knowledge for a problem I have searched for a while now but found no solution.

Problem:
I have a directory with 50 (Excel 2013) .xlsx files. I'm changing content of these workbooks often and send these to someone once updated. Before I send, I have to password protect each file. I have tried using Winzip password protection as a solution but due to the client having restrictions on their environment they are unable to use this.

Some key points:
The workbook names will never change.
The password can be the same for all workbooks.
The directory folder only contains the 50 workbooks.

What I am after:
A way of adding a password to all workbooks before I send them rather than having to manually go into each one to apply a password.
A way to remove the password once I receive the files back (to make it easier for me to work with).

I have thought about possible solutions:
Creating a excel workbook that lists all the names (listed in column A) of the workbooks in the directory. Then using this list with a Module that cycles through each value in column A, opens the spreadsheet and applies password "test" before saving and closing, moving onto the next file.

Not too sure how to do this however as I am no expert in VBA.

If anyone can shed some light on a solution I wont be able to thank you enough.

Kindest Regards,

Sam

Sweep, works like an absolute charm.

Thank you so very much for your time and help.

Kindest regards,

Sam