Password-protect a PDF, or remove a password

Password-protecting a PDF is the standard way to restrict access to a sensitive document before sending it — a payslip, a contract, a bank statement. This tool covers both directions of the operation: adding protection to an unprotected document, or removing existing protection whose password you already know.

Adding protection: AES-256

When you choose to add protection, the document is re-encrypted with the AES-256 algorithm — the strongest encryption level the PDF format supports, the same one used by professional tools like Adobe Acrobat. Once protected, the file can no longer be opened by any PDF reader without the chosen password, which is never kept by our servers beyond the time strictly needed for processing.

Removing protection: only with a known password

This tool never tries to guess or crack an unknown password. To remove a PDF's protection, you must provide the exact password currently protecting it — the tool simply opens the document with that password and saves it again with no encryption. If the password provided is incorrect, the operation fails explicitly rather than attempting any kind of workaround. This limit is a deliberate choice: a tool able to crack an unknown protection would make it easier to gain unauthorised access to documents you aren't necessarily the legitimate owner of. If you've lost the password to a PDF that belongs to you, contact whoever originally sent it to you.

Password privacy

Whether you're adding or removing protection, the password you enter only passes through our servers for the duration of processing: it's never logged, never stored beyond that operation, and the file itself (protected or unprotected) is automatically deleted 30 minutes after processing, like the other server-side operations in this toolbox.

Frequently asked questions

What level of encryption is used to protect a PDF?
AES-256, the strongest encryption standard currently supported by the PDF format, the same one used by Adobe Acrobat and nearly every professional tool.
Can I remove a PDF's password if I've forgotten it?
No. This tool only removes a password that YOU know and explicitly provide — it never tries to guess, crack, or bypass an unknown protection. This limit is deliberate: a password-cracking tool would make it easier to gain unauthorised access to documents protected by their legitimate owner.
What's the difference between the user password and the owner password?
The user password is needed to OPEN the document. The owner password restricts certain actions (printing, copying, editing) without preventing opening with just the user password. This tool applies the same password to both roles for simplicity, which covers the vast majority of everyday protection needs.
Is the password I enter stored anywhere?
No: the password only passes through for the duration of processing and is never logged or stored, whether you're adding or removing protection.
Can I protect a PDF that's already protected by another password?
Not directly: you need to remove the existing protection first (by providing its password) before applying a new one. A document can't carry two simultaneous layers of standard PDF encryption.
Does this protection really prevent all copying of the content?
AES-256 encryption makes the content unreadable without the password. Once the document is opened with the right password, copy or print restrictions depend on the PDF reader used respecting those flags — most mainstream readers do, but they aren't technically unbreakable restrictions at the same level as the encryption itself.

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