PDF TOOLS
Password Protect PDF
Lock a PDF with a password and limit printing or editing.
Remember the password – it can't be recovered. The file never leaves your device.
Your files are processed on your device and are never uploaded.
Lock a PDF with a password so only people you trust can open it. You can also limit what they can do once it is open – print it, copy text and images, change the document, or fill in forms and add comments. The file is encrypted in your browser and never leaves your device.
How to Password Protect a PDF
- Choose your PDF.
- Enter a password and repeat it. Tick Show password to check for typos.
- Choose permissions: untick anything people should not be allowed to do.
- Set an owner password if you want – it is needed to change the permissions later.
- Click Protect PDF and download the locked file.
User Password and Owner Password
- Password (user password): Needed to open the PDF at all. Share it with the people who should read the file.
- Owner password: Controls the permissions. Keep it to yourself. If you leave it empty, a random one is created, so nobody – including you – can lift the restrictions without making a new copy from your original.
Permissions are respected by Adobe Reader, browsers and most other PDF apps, but they are rules for the software rather than a hard lock. The open password, on the other hand, encrypts the content – without it, the file cannot be read.
Choosing a Strong Password
- Use at least 10–12 characters – a short phrase of several words is easy to remember and hard to guess.
- Avoid birthdays, phone numbers and names.
- Send the password through a different channel from the file – for example the PDF by email and the password by SMS.
- Remember it. A forgotten password cannot be recovered.
Free and Private
Encryption happens on your device, so the unprotected file is never sent anywhere. To unlock a PDF you have the password for, use Remove PDF Password.