How to Password Protect a PDF
Pick the PDF you want to lock — a payslip, a signed contract, a scan of something you would rather not have sitting unprotected in somebody's inbox. Leave Add a password selected at the top.
Type your password, then type it again so a slip of the finger does not lock you out of your own file. The bar underneath shows roughly how strong it is. Length matters far more than symbols, so three unrelated words beat one clever word every time. If you also want to stop people printing the file or copying text out of it, tap those before you carry on.
Press Protect PDF and download the locked copy. Open it anywhere — on a phone, in a browser, in Acrobat, in Preview — and it asks for the password first.
Removing a Password
Switch to Remove a password at the top, drop the locked file in, type the password that opens it and download an open copy.
You do need to know the password. This unlocks files you already have access to. It cannot guess a password you do not know, and no honest tool can.
Frequently Asked Questions
How strong is the protection?
The file is encrypted with AES-256, the same family of encryption used for banking and messaging apps. Without the password the contents are unreadable, even to somebody holding the file.
Will the locked PDF open on any device?
Yes. This is standard PDF encryption, so every reader understands it. Your file opens as normal on a phone, in a browser or in a desktop reader. It simply asks for the password first.
I forgot the password. Can you recover it?
No, and nobody else can either. Your file never reaches us, so there is nothing on our side to look at. Keep the password somewhere safe before you send the file anywhere.
Should I email the file and the password together?
No. A locked PDF and its password in the same message protects nobody. Send the password another way, in a text or over the phone.
What do the printing and copying options do?
They are permissions written into the file. Once someone has opened it with the password, a well behaved reader will grey out printing or block copying text. Treat them as a polite fence rather than a lock — the password is the part that actually protects the file.
Does my password get sent anywhere?
No. The file and the password stay on your device and the encryption runs in your browser. That matters more here than anywhere else on this site: a tool that asks for a password should never be sending that password anywhere.