Protect PDF

Drop a PDF in: if it is not protected we ask which password to add, if it is we ask the one it has. The document and the password stay on your device — there is no server to send them to.

Your file stays on your device: nothing is uploaded

How it works

The file decides the direction, not you: an open PDF gets protected, a protected one gets unlocked. To protect it we use AES-256, the only algorithm the standard still recommends; if the document has to open on old readers (Acrobat 8 and earlier) you can pick AES-128, which is more compatible and weaker. To remove a password you have to know it: the document is opened with your password and written back unprotected, keeping bookmarks, form fields and attachments where they are — it is not rebuilt. One case needs no password at all: PDFs that open by themselves but forbid copying and printing have no open password, only permissions, and those anyone can strip, us included. What we do not do is guess: if you do not have the password this tool is useless to you, and no honest tool will tell you otherwise.

Your files are never uploaded. Anywhere.

Not to a server of ours, not to a third party, never. When you pick a file it stays in your browser’s memory: it is read, processed and written back on your device, and you save the result yourself. There is no path that takes it elsewhere, because there is no server to send it to.

Processed locallyFormats are handled by WebAssembly code running in your browser, not by a remote service.
Nothing to upload, nothing to wait forOther services send your file to a server and then send it back to you. Here the file never leaves: there is no upload to wait for.
No accountNo sign-up, no email, no daily limits to get around by paying.
No files to deleteOthers promise to erase your files after an hour. We have nothing to erase: they never reached us.

Other tools in this category

Compress PDFLightens scans while keeping the text searchable.Merge PDFsSeveral PDFs into one document, in the order you choose.PDF to imagesEvery page becomes a JPG or PNG, at the resolution you choose.Split PDFOne page per file, by ranges, or in blocks.Organise PDF pagesRotate, delete and reorder pages on a grid.Crop PDFRemoves the white margins, by itself or with the measurements you choose.Pages per sheetPuts 2, 4, 6 or 9 pages on a single sheet, or lays them out as a booklet.Images to PDFSeveral photos or scans in one PDF, one per page.Watermark PDFOverlay a word like “DRAFT” or “CONFIDENTIAL” on every page.Page numbers on PDFNumber the pages of a PDF, choosing position, format and where to start.Remove PDF metadataAuthor, dates, originating software and the XMP block.