How to use Unlock PDF
- Choose the PDF. The tool checks whether it needs a password or only restricts printing and copying.
- If it asks, enter the PDF's password.
- Select Remove password and download the unlocked copy.
Two kinds of locked PDF
Some PDFs need a password to open at all; others open freely but forbid printing, copying text or editing. When you choose a file the tool checks which kind it is. For a file that needs a password, enter it, and the tool saves a copy that opens without one. For a file that only has restrictions, no password is needed: the tool saves a copy without them. If the file isn't protected at all, it says so.
What it won't do
It doesn't guess, crack or bypass passwords. If you don't know the password to open a file, this tool can't open it either; ask whoever sent it. It removes protection from documents you're entitled to open, such as your own statements and payslips, which many banks and employers protect with a password based on your date of birth or ID number.
How it works
The file is decrypted in your browser by qpdf, a widely used open-source PDF toolkit, loaded from this site. Neither the PDF nor the password is uploaded or stored, and nothing else in the document changes: text, images, links and form fields are kept exactly as they were.
A wrong password is reported straight away, so you can check capital letters and try again without reloading the file.
Common uses
Removing the password from monthly statements before filing them, so they'll still open years later; unlocking a file so you can merge it with others, sign it or add page numbers; or printing a document whose restrictions block it when you have the right to print it.
Why do this in the browser
A password-protected PDF is usually protected for a reason: it holds financial, medical or personal details. Uploading it, and its password, to an online unlocking service hands both to a stranger. Here they never leave your device, and the unlocked copy is saved straight to your downloads.
Questions
- Can it open a PDF if I've forgotten the password?
- No. It removes protection from files you can already open: you enter the password, and it saves a copy without one. It doesn't guess or crack passwords.
- Is my PDF or password uploaded?
- No. Both stay in your browser. The PDF is decrypted on your device by qpdf, loaded from this site.
- Why would I remove a password?
- To stop typing it every time you open your own statement or payslip, to merge or edit a file that tools refuse while it's locked, or to archive documents so they'll still open if the password is lost.