How to remove a password from a PDF you own

Two kinds of PDF password

A PDF can have a password to open it, sometimes called the user password, and a permissions password, sometimes called the owner password, which limits printing, copying or changes. A file can have one of them or both.

To remove the password to open, you need that password. To lift printing, copying or editing limits, you need the permissions password, even when the file opens without asking for anything. If you only have the password to open a file that also has limits, ask its author for the permissions password.

How to remove a PDF password in PDFZyro

You can also unlock from inside a tool: when a tool such as Edit says This PDF is password-protected, click Unlock a copy. On any open document, Remove password is also in the Tools menu.

1. 1Create a free PDFZyro account, or sign in, and click Remove password on the Home page.
2. 2Choose the protected PDF from your documents, or upload it.
3. 3If PDFZyro asks for the password to show the pages, enter it. That one stays in your browser and isn't sent to our servers.
4. 4In Remove the password, type the password. If the author limited printing, copying or changes, type the permissions password.
5. 5Click Remove password. An unlocked copy is saved as a new version of the document, and the protected version stays in the version history.
6. 6Click Continue, then download the unlocked PDF, or keep working on it in PDFZyro: edit, organize, merge, convert or sign it.

Is it legal to remove a PDF password?

Removing a password from your own document, or from one you were given the password for and are allowed to use, is generally fine: the password was there to protect the file on its way to you, and you're the person meant to read it. Breaking the password on a file you aren't entitled to open, or removing protection to get around copyright or an agreement, is a different matter and can be unlawful. If you're not sure you may remove a document's protection, ask whoever sent it. This is general information, not legal advice.

Remember why the password was there. An unlocked bank statement or medical letter can be read by anyone who gets hold of the file, so think before you email or upload the unlocked copy, and protect it again before sharing it.

Keep the unlocked copy safe

• In PDFZyro, every document is encrypted when stored and private to your account, whether it has a password or not.
• To share it, use a share link with its own password and an end date rather than sending the unlocked file as an attachment.
• To send it as a file, add a new password with Protect, and limits on printing and copying if you need them.
• Delete copies you no longer need, such as downloads on a shared or work computer.
• The protected version stays in the version history, so you can always go back to the file as you received it.

Other ways to remove a password you know

• Preview on a Mac: open the PDF with its password, choose File, then Export, and save a copy with encryption turned off.
• Google Chrome and other browsers: open the PDF, enter the password, print it and choose Save as PDF as the printer. The copy has no password, but it's a printed copy, so form fields and links may be lost, and it doesn't work when printing is restricted.
• Adobe Acrobat: the paid version can remove security from a PDF when you have its passwords, in the document's security settings.

What if you've lost the password?

Ask the sender. Banks, employers and government offices often explain the pattern they use, such as part of your date of birth or account number, in the email or letter that came with the file, and they can send the document again.

Check whether you need that copy at all: statements and letters can often be downloaded again from the website or app they came from. PDFZyro can't open, crack or guess lost passwords, and won't help remove protection from a document that isn't yours.