How to Remove a Password From a PDF

How to remove a password from a PDF in 3 steps

This works in any browser on Windows, Mac, Chromebook, iPhone and Android.

1. Add the locked PDF

   Open Unlock PDF and drop the file in, or tap to choose it. Files up to 50MB work.

2. Type the password

   Enter the password you normally use to open the document. Your original file is left exactly as it was.

3. Download the unlocked copy

   Click Remove password. The new copy opens anywhere without asking, and you can now merge, compress or edit it.

How to remove a PDF password in Chrome

Google Chrome can make an unlocked copy using its built-in PDF viewer, on Windows, Mac and Chromebook:

1. Drag the PDF into a Chrome window and enter the password.
2. Press Ctrl + P (or Cmd + P on a Mac).
3. Set Destination to Save as PDF and click Save.

The saved copy has no password. Two catches: if the owner blocked printing, Chrome cannot do this, and the result is a re-printed file, so links and form fields may not survive. Unlock PDF keeps the original pages untouched.

How to remove a password from a PDF on a Mac

Preview can save an unlocked copy:

1. Open the PDF in Preview and enter the password.
2. Choose File, then Export.
3. Click Permissions and untick Require Password to Open Document (on older macOS, untick Encrypt).
4. Save the file under a new name.

If Preview asks for an owner password when you change permissions, the file also has a permissions password. Unlock PDF clears both in one step once you have the open password.

How to remove a PDF password in Adobe Acrobat

In Acrobat Pro, the paid version, open the file, go to Protect, choose Encrypt or Security properties and set security to No Security, then save. The free Acrobat Reader can open protected files but cannot remove the password.

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Why PDFs come with a password

Payroll services, benefits portals, insurers and some banks lock the PDFs they email you, so a statement that ends up in the wrong inbox cannot be read. The password is usually explained in the email that delivered the file, or follows a rule such as your date of birth or the last digits of an account number.

Removing it from your own copy is reasonable once the file is safely on your device, especially if you need to merge several statements, shrink one for an upload, or open it often. Keep the unlocked copy somewhere private, and add a new password before you send it on.

What if you do not know the password?

Then the file cannot be unlocked, by Zappy or by any honest tool. A PDF with an open password is genuinely encrypted, so without the password there is nothing to read. Sites that promise to crack any PDF are slow at best and a privacy risk at worst, because you are handing them a sensitive document.

• Search your email for the message that came with the file. The password or the rule is often in it.
• Ask the sender, whether that is your employer, bank or insurer, to resend it or tell you the rule.
• If it is your own file, check your password manager or wherever you keep document passwords.

Opens without a password but will not let you edit?

That file has only a permissions password, which limits printing, copying or editing. Unlock PDF clears those limits too, so you can copy text or fill in the pages.

Frequently asked questions