Lock a PDF form
Takes a filled-in PDF form and freezes it: what is written stays visible, but the fields disappear and nobody can change them. It is what you want before sending a form to someone. The file never leaves your device.
Your file stays on your device: nothing is uploaded
This tool is in beta — always check the result.
How it works
The field values are drawn onto the page — in the right place, looking the same as before — and then the form is removed from the document. At the end the file just produced is reopened to check that no fields are left: if any were, we tell you instead of handing you a form you believe is locked. Locking cannot be undone: a locked form can no longer be filled in, so if you still need it editable, keep the original. And if the PDF has no real fields — many boxes are just lines drawn on the page — we say so, instead of giving you back an identical copy.
Frequently asked questions
- How many forms can I lock at once?
- Up to 20, each up to 50 MB and 150 MB in total. Each form is locked and checked on its own: if one has no real fields we tell you, and the others still come out. You can download them one by one or in a ZIP archive.
- Should I lock it here or in “Fill in a PDF form”?
- If you still have to type into it, use “Fill in a PDF form”: it has an option to lock the form right after filling it in, in a single pass. This tool is for forms already filled in, in another program or by someone else, or for when you have several to lock together.
- Can the values still be searched after locking?
- Yes: the values become text on the page, so a search finds them and you can copy them like the rest. For the same reason they survive where fields would be lost, for example in “Pages per sheet”: to arrange a filled-in form, lock it here first.
- How do I lock a password-protected form?
- Drop it in here like any other. If it opens on its own and only forbids editing, you can lock it straight away. If it needs a password to open, we ask for it in the file’s row. The form you download is no longer protected: if it has to stay that way, set the password again at the end with “Protect PDF”.
- Does a field written in Greek, Cyrillic or Polish stay correct?
- Yes. When a field has to be redrawn — usually because the program that filled it in left no drawing behind — letters of every European language, Greek and Cyrillic are redrawn correctly. Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and emoji are not: if a field to be redrawn holds any, the summary says which one, and for that form it is better to lock it in the program you filled it in with.
Your files are never uploaded. Anywhere.
Your file stays in your browser’s memory: it is read, processed and written back here. There is no server to send it to.
- Processed locallyEverything happens on your device.
- Nothing to upload, nothing to wait forNothing to upload, no waiting.
- No files to deleteWe keep nothing: nothing reaches us.