Unlock PDF4 min read
How to Remove a Password from a PDF
Bank statements and payslips often arrive locked. Here is how to save a copy that opens without the password, and when it's fine to do.
By BoringWork · Updated
The short answer
If you know the password, open Unlock PDF, choose the file, type the password and click Unlock. You get a copy that opens without it. Files that only block printing or copying don't need a password at all. Without the password, a locked PDF can't be opened, and that's by design.
Two kinds of PDF lock
PDFs can be protected in two different ways, and it helps to know which one you have:
- An open password: the file asks for a password before it shows anything. Banks, payroll services and tax offices often send statements like this.
- Restrictions: the file opens normally, but printing, copying text or editing is switched off. These are set with a separate “owner” password that you never have to type.
Unlock PDF removes both. For the first kind you need the password; for the second you don't.
Remove the password
- 01Open Unlock PDFGo to Unlock PDF and choose the locked file.
- 02Type the passwordThe one you use to open it. Passwords are case-sensitive. Restricted files skip this step.
- 03Download the unlocked copyClick Unlock. The new copy opens without a password; your original file stays locked.
Unlock PDF
Remove the password and restrictions from a PDF you can open.
Where does my password go?
Nowhere. The file is unlocked by your own browser, and the password is used only on your device to open it. It isn't sent to a server or saved, and it's forgotten as soon as you remove the file.
That is worth checking with any tool you use: a locked PDF is usually locked because it holds something private, like an account number or a salary.
Is it okay to remove a PDF password?
For your own documents, yes. A statement your bank sent you is yours to keep in whatever form is convenient. The same goes for files where the owner has given you the password and is happy for you to keep an open copy.
Don't remove protection from documents you aren't entitled to use that way, such as paid reports licensed for viewing only.
Questions
Not with BoringWork. A PDF with an open password is encrypted, and we don't guess or crack passwords. Ask whoever sent it; banks can usually tell you the format, such as your date of birth.
Only the protection is removed. Pages, text, links, bookmarks and form fields stay the same, and the quality doesn't change.
Yes, with any PDF tool that can encrypt files. Keep the original locked file too, if you might need it.
Ready? Unlock PDF, free.
Remove the password and restrictions from a PDF you can open.