Documents such as payslips, ID copies and contracts are risky to send as an open file. Email can be forwarded, phones can be lost and shared folders can be opened by the wrong people. A password adds a simple layer of protection.
What protection does
When you protect a PDF, it is encrypted with AES-256. Without the password, the contents cannot be opened. You can also choose whether printing and copying are allowed.
It protects the file itself, wherever it travels. That makes it useful for email attachments and cloud links.
Steps
- Open the Protect PDF tool.
- Add your PDF.
- Choose a password.
- Set the printing and copying options if offered.
- Press Protect and download the new file.
The work is done in your browser and the file is not uploaded.
Choosing a good password
- Make it long. A phrase of several unrelated words is stronger than a short mix of symbols.
- Do not use birthdays, phone numbers or names that others could guess.
- Do not reuse a password from your email or bank.
If you need help, the password generator creates random passwords in your browser.
Sharing the password safely
Never put the password in the same email as the file. Anyone who intercepts that message gets both. Send the password through a different route, such as a call, a text message or a separate chat.
Tell the receiver in advance what to expect so they do not think the file is suspicious.
Important warnings
- Lost passwords cannot be recovered. Nobody can open the file for you, not even this site. Keep the password somewhere safe, such as a password manager.
- Keep an unprotected original in a secure place, in case you forget.
- Weak passwords can be guessed. Encryption is only as strong as the password.
- Protection does not hide metadata you have not removed. Consider removing author details first with the metadata editor.
Removing the password later
If you own the file and know the password, the Unlock PDF tool removes it. There is more in our guide on removing a password from a PDF you own. Use that only for your own documents or with permission.
If you only need to hide part of a document
A password hides everything from people without it, but anyone who has it sees all. If the reader only needs some of the content, use the redaction tool or remove pages instead.