Remove protection from a PDF in your browser: restrictions-only files open as is, password-protected ones (RC4, AES-128, AES-256) open with the password you enter.
Removes the protection from a PDF so it opens, prints, copies and edits freely. It handles PDFs that open without a password (editing/printing restrictions only) and PDFs that need a password to open, when you type that password yourself. Everything runs in your browser, using a small client-side implementation of the PDF encryption standard (RC4, AES-128 and AES-256), so the file and the password never leave your device.
No. It never guesses or recovers a password. You supply the password (or none, for a PDF that opens freely) and the tool checks it against the value stored in the PDF; if it is wrong you get a clear error and nothing is produced. It removes protection you are already entitled to remove.
Some PDFs store their internal objects in a compressed "object stream," which can't be read while still encrypted using the lightweight approach this tool takes. You'll get a clear error in that case rather than a corrupted file.
Yes. Revisions 5 and 6 of the standard (AES-256) are supported: enter the password the file was protected with, or its owner password. That includes files made by this site's Protect PDF tool and standard AES-256 PDFs from other programs. The one limit is files that keep their objects in compressed object streams, which is the same limit as for the older handlers.
For AES-256 files either one works. For the older RC4 and AES-128 files, enter the user password (the one that opens the file); if the PDF opens with no password, leave the box empty.
← All tools · PDF Tools · Blog · Cheat sheets · FAQ