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Protect a PDF with a password
Set a password that is asked for whenever the file is opened. The file is encrypted on your device with AES-256, and the password is stored nowhere.
Why the limit? The editor works on your file on your own device, with nothing uploaded. That takes browser features only recent desktop versions of Chrome and Edge have.
or drop one anywhere on this page
Your file stays on this device. Nothing is uploaded.
Strong encryption
Files are encrypted with AES-256, the strongest the PDF format offers. Any current PDF reader opens them with the password.
Never sent anywhere
Other online tools need your file and your password on their server to do this. Here both stay in your browser.
Change or remove a password
Open a protected file with its password, then set another password or take the protection off. Where the author of a file set a separate password for its protection, you are asked for that one first.
Kept nowhere
The password is not saved on your device or anywhere else. If it is lost, the file cannot be opened again.
How to password protect a PDF
Open your PDF: choose the file or drop it on this page.
Open the menu beside Save and choose Password.
Type the password twice.
Save. From now on the file opens with the password only.
The editor is right here. Open your PDF to begin.
Questions and answers
Can I remove a password I do not know?
No. A file that asks for a password opens only with that password. Where a file opens for anybody and its author set a separate password to limit what may be done with it, that protection stays on the file when you save it here, and only that password changes or removes it.
Which programs can open the protected file?
Any reader that supports AES-256 encryption, as current ones do. We check the files with the PDF readers built into Chrome, Firefox and macOS. One exception: Apple’s Preview and Safari do not open a file whose password has emoji, or marks typed after their letter as in Thai; the editor tells you when you type such a password.
Can I edit a protected PDF?
Yes. Enter its password when you open it; your changes are saved under the same protection.