Add or remove a PDF password
Adds a password that is needed to open a PDF, or removes the password of a PDF when you know it. The PDF and the passwords are handled only on this device.
- Free
- No upload
- No sign-up
- Works offline
How to use
Press "Choose a PDF" and pick one PDF.
Choose "Add a password" or "Remove the password", and enter the password.
Press "Protect and save" or "Unlock and save" to save the new PDF (protected.pdf or unlocked.pdf).
Questions
Are my PDF and passwords sent anywhere?
No. Reading the PDF and adding or removing its password both happen on your device. Nothing is sent out after you choose a file, and the passwords are not saved anywhere.
How is the password added?
With AES-256, as the PDF standard (ISO 32000-2) describes. Without the password, the text and images of the pages and information such as the title cannot be read. Old PDF apps and some other apps (such as apps that use the PDF feature built into Windows) may not open the file. Chrome, Edge and Firefox on a Windows computer open it.
Can it restrict printing or copying?
No. This tool adds only a password to open the PDF. The permissions password (owner password) that PDF files need is made of random characters, and is never shown or saved. Anyone who opens the PDF with the password can print and copy it.
What if I forget the password?
Then no one can open the PDF. TEMOTO does not know the password either. Write the password down in a safe place before you add it.
Can it remove a password that I do not know?
No. It removes only a password that you know. This tool never tries to guess passwords.
What about a PDF that restricts printing or copying?
Removing its password removes those restrictions too. So such a PDF needs its permissions password (owner password); the password that opens it is enough only when it restricts nothing. A PDF that opens without a password but has restrictions needs its permissions password as well.
Are there PDFs that it cannot unlock?
Yes. It cannot remove a protection with certificates, or by services such as Adobe LiveCycle. A PDF protected with an older method (RC4 or AES-128) may not open when its password has letters beyond basic Latin, such as Japanese.
Does it change the contents of the PDF, or details such as the author?
No. Pages, bookmarks, form fields, comments, attached files, and information such as the title and author stay as they are (in a protected PDF, they are encrypted too). Old data that nothing uses is left out of the new file. The size of the file may change (it can become smaller, as the information inside is packed and compressed together).
What happens to digital signatures?
Adding or removing a password makes the digital signatures of the PDF no longer valid. Keep the original file of important documents.
Can I use it on my phone?
Yes. It needs a recent browser (the screen tells you if yours cannot run the tool). Inside apps such as LINE, saving may not work. If so, open the page again in Safari or Chrome.
Limits
- A new password has 1 to 127 letters, digits, symbols and spaces of ASCII.
- Printing, copying and editing are not restricted (only a password to open the PDF is added).
- Old PDF apps and some other apps (such as apps that use the PDF feature built into Windows) may not open a protected PDF. Chrome, Edge and Firefox on a Windows computer open it.
- Only a password that you know can be removed. A PDF with restrictions needs its permissions password.
- One PDF can have up to 200 MB and 2,000 pages.
- Digital signatures stop being valid.
- We cannot protect against things in your own environment, such as browser extensions.
- The work is done on this device, so how long it takes depends on how powerful the device is. On an older phone, it can take several times as long as on a computer.