Password protect a PDF
Password protection encrypts the file itself, so the contents are unreadable without the password no matter where the file ends up. The same tool removes protection again when you have the current password.
Private by design: your files are held in your browser. Anything processed on the server is deleted within the hour, automatically — we keep no copies.
How to password protect a PDF
Open the file, click Tools, then Password, and set a password — the PDF is encrypted with it.
Opening a locked PDF asks for the password right in the viewer.
To remove protection permanently, use Tools, then Password, then Unlock with the current password.
Questions
- Can you recover a password I have forgotten?
- No, and that is the point — the encryption is real. You need the current password to unlock a file. There is no back door and we cannot help you past it.
- Why can't I edit my protected file?
- Encrypted files can be viewed with the password but not modified. Unlock the file first, make your changes, then protect it again.
- Is the password sent to your servers?
- It is used to perform the encryption and then discarded. It is never stored, never logged, and cannot be recovered from us afterwards.
- Is it really free, and are there watermarks?
- It is free and it adds no watermark of its own. There is no page limit, no daily quota and no paid tier holding features back.