How to remove a password from a PDF
- Add the protected PDF.
- Type the password that opens it. If the file opens without a password but blocks printing or copying, leave the box empty.
- Press Remove the password.
- Press Save for the unlocked copy, which opens from then on without asking.
About this tool
Removing a password from a PDF produces a copy that opens without one. This free tool decrypts the file in your browser, using a password you already have.
That last clause is the whole design. This tool does not guess, crack or recover passwords, and it never will. A tool that broke into PDFs would overwhelmingly be used on documents belonging to other people, and building one would be a straightforward contribution to that. If you have lost the password to a file, the person or organisation that issued it is the only legitimate route back.
What it is genuinely useful for is the friction of a password you do have. Banks, payroll systems and government portals routinely issue statements locked with a password derived from your date of birth or account number, and every one of those files asks again every time you open it. Removing the password from your own copy, once, is a reasonable thing to want. So is decrypting a file before merging it, since most PDF tools — including the others on this site — cannot read an encrypted document. There is also a second, milder case: files that open freely but refuse to let you print or copy text. Those carry an owner password only, and leaving the password box empty will lift the restriction.
Frequently asked questions
- Can this recover a password I have forgotten?
- No. It needs the password. There is deliberately no cracking or guessing feature, because such a tool would mostly be used on other people's documents.
- The file opens without a password but I cannot print it. What do I do?
- That is an owner password. Leave the password box empty and press the button — the restriction will be removed.
- Is the password sent anywhere?
- No. Decryption runs in your browser using qpdf compiled to WebAssembly. Neither the file nor the password leaves your device.
- Is it legal to remove a password?
- From your own documents, or with the owner's permission, yes. Circumventing protection on someone else's file may not be, depending on where you are. Use it on files you have a right to.
- Does unlocking change the document?
- No. The pages, text and images are unchanged. Only the encryption layer is removed.