Protect / Unlock PDF

Password-protect or unlock your PDF files.

Drop a PDF to lock or unlock

or click to browse

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How to password-protect a PDF

  1. Pick Protect, upload the PDF, and enter the password you want to set (twice, to confirm it).
  2. Click Protect PDF. The tool applies AES-256 encryption to the file — anyone opening it will be prompted for the password.
  3. Store the password somewhere safe. If you forget it, there is no recovery — encryption is the whole point.

How to remove a password (unlock)

  1. Pick Unlock, upload the encrypted PDF, and enter the correct password.
  2. The tool decrypts the file and rebuilds it without encryption. The output is a regular, unprotected PDF.
  3. You must know the password. This is not a password cracker — unlocking without the password is not something we do.

Frequently asked

What encryption strength is used?

AES-256 (PDF 2.0, revision 6) — the strongest standard PDF encryption, the same strength Adobe Acrobat Pro produces. It runs entirely in your browser via qpdf compiled to WebAssembly; your file and password never leave the device. A correctly-chosen 12+ character password is infeasible to brute-force at this strength. Your text and layout stay intact — the file is encrypted in place, not flattened to images.

Can you crack a password I forgot?

No — and by design, no one should. Strong encryption is only strong because it cannot be reversed, which is the whole point of protecting a document. The practical guardrail is to save the password the moment you set it (a password manager, or a written note kept somewhere secure) and to keep an unencrypted backup of any important PDF before encrypting the copy you will share.

Will protection stop people from printing or copying text?

Basic password protection unlocks full access once the password is entered. Advanced permission flags (print-disabled, copy-disabled) exist in the PDF spec but are widely ignored by third-party viewers — treat them as a hint, not a guarantee.

Is it safe to unlock confidential PDFs here?

Yes — the entire decrypt / re-encrypt pipeline runs inside your browser tab. The password and file bytes never leave your device.

Privacy: Encryption and decryption both run in-browser through qpdf (WebAssembly, AES-256). No passwords, no file contents, and no metadata cross the network.