Add a protected PDF, type its current password, and download a copy that opens without one. The new file has no password and no restrictions, so printing, copying text and editing are all allowed again. Pages, bookmarks, form fields and links come through unchanged.
This is the fix for the bank statement or payslip that asks for a password every time you open it, and for files that open fine but refuse to print. It is also the step you need before using Merge PDF, Compress PDF, Split PDF or Sign PDF on a protected file, because those tools will not open it and ask you to unlock it first.
Unlock PDF needs the password you already have. It does not guess, crack or work around a password you do not know, and it is meant only for files you are entitled to open. OzPDF does not store the password you type.
How to unlock PDF
- Add your PDF. One file at a time, up to 100 MB.
- Enter the password. Type the password you use to open the file. If it opens without a password and only blocks printing or copying, leave the box empty.
- Unlock and download. The copy you download ends in <code>-unlocked.pdf</code> and has no password or restrictions.
The two kinds of protected PDF
An open password is the one most people mean. The PDF will not show anything until you type the password, which is common for statements from banks, super funds and payroll systems. Often the password is something like your date of birth or the last digits of an account number, and the covering email explains the pattern. Type it into the password box exactly as you would in your PDF reader.
A permissions-only file opens without a prompt but blocks printing, copying text or editing. These are set up by whoever made the file, sometimes deliberately and sometimes as a side effect of the software they used. Leave the password box empty for these. Under the PDF standard such files are encrypted with an empty open password, so an empty box is the correct password, and unlocking removes the restrictions.
If you are not sure which kind you have, try it in your normal reader. A password prompt means the first kind. A file that opens but greys out Print or Copy is the second. A PDF with neither gets a message that there is nothing to unlock, and nothing changes.
What gets changed and what does not
Only the encryption is removed. Every page, bookmark, form field and link is kept, and the text stays selectable and searchable. The pages themselves are not redrawn, so the unlocked copy looks the same as the original.
The tool handles the standard PDF encryption types: RC4 at 40 and 128 bits, and AES at 128 and 256 bits, which covers files made by Acrobat and most other software. Your original file is not modified; you download a separate copy whose name ends in -unlocked.pdf.
If you still want the file protected, but with a password of your choosing, run the unlocked copy through Protect PDF. That is also the way to change a password: unlock with the old one, then protect with the new one.
When the password does not work
A wrong password returns the message “That password did not open the file. Check it and try again — passwords are case-sensitive.” Case is the usual culprit: Smith1985 and smith1985 are different passwords. Check for a stray space if you pasted it from an email, and check the order of date-of-birth passwords, which some senders write as DDMMYYYY and others as YYYYMMDD.
If you have lost the password altogether, this tool cannot help. It does not attempt to guess or bypass passwords, and that is deliberate: an open password exists to keep the file away from people who do not have it. Ask the sender for the password or for a fresh copy. Banks and employers can usually reissue a statement or payslip from their online portal.
Use it only on files you are entitled to open: your own statements, documents sent to you along with their password, or files you created and have since forgotten to unprotect. Removing restrictions from a document you have no right to copy can breach the terms it was supplied under.
Questions people actually ask
How do I remove a password from a PDF?
Add the PDF here, type the password you normally use to open it, and unlock it. You download a copy ending in -unlocked.pdf that opens without asking for a password. You do need to know the current password; the tool does not guess or bypass it.
Can I unlock a PDF without the password?
Only if the file opens without a password and merely blocks printing, copying or editing. For those, leave the password box empty and the restrictions are removed. If the PDF asks for a password before it will open, you need that password, and you should ask whoever sent the file for it.
How do I remove print and copy restrictions from a PDF?
Add the file and leave the password box empty, then unlock it. Restricted files that open freely are encrypted with an empty open password under the PDF standard, so no password is needed. The downloaded copy allows printing, copying text and editing. Use this only for files you are entitled to use that way.
Why do other PDF tools say my file needs unlocking first?
An encrypted PDF cannot be read until it is decrypted, so tools such as Merge PDF, Compress PDF, Split PDF and Sign PDF refuse it. Unlock the file here with its password, then use the unlocked copy in the other tool. You can add a password again afterwards with Protect PDF.
Does unlocking a PDF change the content or quality?
No. Only the encryption is removed. Pages, bookmarks, form fields and links are all kept, and the text stays selectable and searchable. The unlocked file looks the same as the original; the only difference is that it opens without a password and allows printing, copying and editing.