PDF / Password
Unlock PDF: Remove a Password You Know
Remove the password from a PDF when you know it, or lift restrictions on printing, copying, and editing from a file that opens without one, and save an unlocked copy, in your browser with nothing uploaded; it cannot crack a password you do not have.
Unlock PDF: Remove a Password You Know: The tool checks how the file is encrypted, then decrypts it with the password you give and writes a copy with no encryption at all, using qpdf compiled to run in your browser. Every method in the PDF standard is supported, from 40-bit RC4 to AES-256. A file that opens without a password but blocks printing or copying is decrypted the same way, which removes the restrictions. Runs 100% locally in your browser with zero server file uploads.
- Category
- PDF tools
- Runs
- In your browser
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up
- Availability
- Ready to use
Runs entirely in your browser
Up to 100 MB · nothing is uploaded
Decryption runs in your browser with qpdf, free software under the Apache License 2.0, loaded as a separate file the first time; your PDF and password are never uploaded. It cannot guess or crack a password you do not know.
Keep the original
The unlocked copy has no protection at all. Delete it once it has done its job, and keep the protected original for storage or sharing.
Restrictions without a password
Some PDFs open freely but forbid printing or copying. Those restrictions are a setting, not encryption of the content, which is why they can be lifted without a password.
How to use it
- Choose a PDF; it shows whether the file needs a password or only has restrictions.
- Type the password if it needs one.
- Unlock the PDF and save the copy.
Privacy & limitations
Your PDF and password stay in your browser and are never uploaded.
Related tools
Frequently asked questions
Can it open a PDF if I have lost the password?
No. It only removes a password you already know; it does not guess or crack passwords.
Is it legal to remove restrictions?
Removing them from your own documents, or ones you are allowed to change, is fine. Do not use it to get around restrictions someone else has set on a document you have no permission to change.
Why save an unlocked copy?
So that it can be merged, signed, compressed, or printed by tools and printers that cannot handle encrypted PDFs, without typing the password each time.
Free tool · runs in your browser · no account required