How to remove a password from a PDF

A PDF can be locked in two different ways. An open password (also called a user password) is needed before anyone can see the document. Permission restrictions (set with an owner password) let the file open but block things like printing, copying text or editing.

Bank statements, payslips and tax documents often arrive with an open password, usually a date of birth or part of an account number described in the email. Typing it every time is tedious, and most PDF tools cannot merge, edit or compress a locked file. Removing the password once gives you a normal copy to work with.

1. 1

   Open Unlock PDF

   Go to Unlock PDF in any browser, on a computer or a phone.

2. 2

   Choose the locked file

   Click Choose a PDF or drop it here and select the protected PDF. The file is read on your device.

3. 3

   Type the password

   Enter it in the PDF password field. Use the eye button to show what you typed if you are unsure about a character.

4. 4

   Unlock the file

   Press Unlock PDF. If the password is wrong you will see Wrong password. Please try again. and nothing is saved.

5. 5

   Download the unlocked copy

   When Your file is ready appears, rename the file if you want (it ends in -unlocked by default) and press Download.

Unlock PDF does not guess, crack or bypass passwords. It needs the correct password to decrypt the file, exactly like a PDF reader does. Modern PDFs are encrypted, so without the password the content simply cannot be read.

If you lost the password to your own document, check the email or letter that came with it (banks usually explain the format), or ask the sender for an unprotected copy. If the PDF belongs to someone else, ask them. Removing protection from a file you are not entitled to open is not something this tool helps with.

Password-protected PDFs are usually the sensitive ones: statements, contracts, medical results. Many online unlockers upload the file and the password to a server. PDFkind decrypts the file in your browser instead, so neither the document nor the password leaves your device. The tool page states it plainly: your password never leaves your device.

To protect a file before sending it, use Protect PDF. It encrypts the PDF with AES-256, the strongest standard PDF encryption.

• Choose your PDF, then type a Password (at least 4 characters) and the same one in Repeat password.
• Under Permissions, decide what people can do once it is open: Allow printing, Allow copying text and images, and Allow editing, comments and form filling. By default only printing is allowed.
• Press Protect PDF, then Download the file, which ends in -protected.

The same password opens the file and controls the permissions, so share it through a different channel than the PDF itself, for example by text message when the file goes by email.

Printing and copying restrictions depend on the reading app respecting them, and some apps ignore them. Treat them as a polite signal. The open password is what actually encrypts the content. For documents with private details you want gone rather than hidden, redact the PDF before sharing it.