Protect PDF
Add password protection to your PDF file. Your files are processed in your browser - nothing is uploaded to any server.
Combine multiple PDFs into one
Split a PDF into separate files
Reorder pages by dragging
Pull specific pages out
Pull all images out
Remove pages from PDF
Rotate pages in any direction
Stack one PDF onto another
Reduce PDF file size
Clean up unused data
Make scanned text searchable
Spot the differences between two PDFs
Add text, signatures, shapes
Add your signature anywhere
Add text or image watermark
Number pages as 1, i or A
Add sticky-note comments
Ready-to-use forms to fill online
Add a password
Unlock a PDF with its password
Black out sensitive info
Editable .docx export
Tables as .xlsx
Each page as a JPG
Each page as a PNG
Each page as a WebP
Turn JPG images into a PDF
Turn PNG images into a PDF
Combine JPG, PNG, GIF or WebP into one PDF
Convert .docx to PDF
Convert .xlsx to PDF
Convert .pptx to PDF
Turn an HTML file into a PDF
Capture a webpage
34 PDF tools in total. Pick a category above or search for one.
Protect PDF files with two kinds of password
A protected PDF is encrypted: until someone enters the user password, its pages are scrambled and no PDF reader can display them.
If you leave the owner password empty, the user password is used for both, and anyone who can open the file can also lift its limits. Set a different owner password to make the permissions stick.
User Password
- Opens the file for reading
- Goes to everyone who should read it
- Comes with the limits you set
Owner Password
- Opens it with every right
- Can change or lift the limits
- Stays with you alone
Lock PDF printing, editing and copying
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Allow Printing Default
Readers can print the document. Untick it for files that should stay on screen.
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Allow Modifying
Lets readers change the pages in PDF apps that respect permissions.
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Allow Copying
Lets readers select text and images and paste them somewhere else.
What happens when you encrypt a PDF
Each page of your PDF is copied into a fresh document, which is then encrypted with 128-bit AES using your user password. The owner password and the three permission settings are stored with it before you download the result.
Only the pages are copied, so bookmarks and the title and author details stored in the original stay behind. The pages themselves, with their text and images, come through unchanged.
The permissions grant exactly what you tick and nothing more. With a separate owner password, filling in form fields and adding comments stay blocked as well, even with Allow Modifying ticked, in PDF apps that apply permissions.
Several files get the same password and permissions and come back in one ZIP named protected-pdfs with the number of files.
Is a password enough?
Our PDF security guide covers encryption strength, permissions, watermarks and where your files get processed.
How to add a password to a PDF
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Add your PDF
Drop it onto the dropzone, or click the dropzone to browse.
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Type the user password
Enter the password readers will open the file with under User Password.
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Set limits and protect
Fill in Owner Password, tick the permissions you want, then click Protect PDF and save the result.
When to password protect a PDF
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Payslips and tax papers
Send the file by email and the password by text message, so one forwarded email never carries both.
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Signed contracts
Let the other side read and print the final version while Allow Modifying stays off.
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Board papers for one meeting
Protect the whole pack in one go, so every reader needs only one password.
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Files on shared drives
Anyone who comes across the file in a shared folder or on a lost USB stick sees nothing without the password.
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Medical letters and results
Keep test results and health letters unreadable to anyone who opens the file by mistake.
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Client reports
Deliver work that only the client holding the password can open, even if the email is forwarded.
Received a locked file?
If you know its password, Remove Password Protection saves a copy that opens without one.
Protect PDF questions
Still stuck? Contact us
Some can. The limits are flags stored in the file, and while many PDF apps honor them, some viewers ignore them. The encryption behind the user password is what keeps out anyone who doesn't have it.
Yes. The encryption used is part of the PDF standard, so current PDF apps on phones, tablets and computers open the file once the password is typed. Only very old readers, from before this encryption joined the standard, may fail to open it.
No. Protect PDF always sets a user password, so the file asks for one when it opens. The print, edit and copy limits come on top of it.
Not in one run: a batch always shares the password you typed. Protect the files one at a time, or in groups, when each needs its own.
Protect your unprotected original again with the new password. If you only have the protected copy, open it with Remove Password Protection first, using the current password.
For everyday documents, yes: nobody opens the file by attacking the encryption itself in any practical time. The weak point is the password, so its length matters more than anything else.
No. Once the file is open, whatever is on screen can be photographed or captured, whatever the permissions say. Protection decides who can open the file, not what they do with what they see.
A phrase of four or five unrelated words is harder to guess than a short mix of symbols. Avoid names, dates and anything that appears in the document itself.