How to protect a PDF with a password
- 1Choose the PDF, or drop it anywhere on this page.
- 2Type a password twice.
- 3Download the locked copy.
Nothing to install
It runs in the browser you already have, on a phone or a computer. There is no account to make first.
Deleted a day later
Your file is removed from our servers 24 hours after you last touch it, or sooner if you ask.
No watermark
What you download is your document and nothing else, on every plan.
A password to open it
The copy you download is encrypted with AES-256 and asks for the password before it shows anything. Every mainstream reader handles it: Adobe Reader, Preview on a Mac, Chrome, Edge, and the PDF viewers on iPhone and Android.
Choosing a password
The encryption is only as strong as the password. A short or common word can be guessed by software in minutes. Use a long passphrase (four or five unrelated words is easy to remember and very hard to guess) and send it separately from the file, by a different channel. For example, email the PDF and send the password by text message.
We do not keep it
The password is used once, to lock the copy, and is not stored. Nobody, including us, can recover it. If you lose it, the only way back in is the original, unlocked document.
Good for
- Payslips, tax returns and bank statements sent by email.
- Contracts and HR documents.
- Medical letters and anything with an ID number in it.
Related tools
Questions
- How strong is the encryption?
- AES-256, the strongest standard PDF encryption. A long password matters more than anything else: a short one can be guessed.
- Do you keep the password?
- No. It is used once to lock the copy and not stored, so nobody can get it back for you. Write it down.
- Will it open everywhere?
- Yes. Adobe Reader, Preview, Chrome, Edge and phone readers all ask for the password and open it.
- Can I remove the password later?
- Yes, with the password: unlock the PDF.