Protect PDF
A password on the document,
checked before you send it
Locks a PDF so it will not open without a password. The locked file is opened again on this page to show it refuses to open without the password and opens with it — so you know before anyone else tries.
Drop a PDF here, or choose one
The document is locked in this tab. Neither the file nor the password is uploaded, and nothing about either is stored.
Before you lock the next one
Joining several documents into one first means one file and one password to send.
Merge PDFsQuestions
How strong is the lock?
The document is encrypted with AES-256, the strongest method the PDF format defines. The encryption is only as strong as the password, though: a short or common password can be guessed by software that tries millions of them, and nothing in the file can slow that down.
Can you recover the password if I forget it?
No. The password never leaves your device, so we never have it, and the file cannot be opened without it. Keep a copy of the unlocked original until you are sure the password is written down somewhere safe.
Can someone with the password print or copy from it?
Yes. This page sets one password, and whoever has it can do everything with the document. PDF files can also carry “no printing” or “no copying” flags, but they are requests a reader may ignore, so we do not offer them as protection.
Can this page remove a password from a PDF?
No, and it will not. A tool that removes a password works the same way for someone who does not own the document, and there is no way for a web page to tell the two apart.