Unlock a Password-Protected PDF Online Free (Your Own File)

The phrasings all point one way — "unlock pdf", "remove pdf password", "pdf password entfernen" in German, "quitar contraseña pdf" in Spanish. Legitimate use of the Unlock PDF tool is simple and specific: the file is yours, you know the password, and you want a copy that opens without typing it every time. The tool removes the lock in your browser, with nothing uploaded.

Two kinds of PDF locks

• An open (user) password stops the file opening until it is entered — the lock everyone pictures.
• A permissions lock restricts what can be done with an already-open file, such as printing or copying text, even though it opens without a password.

Both kinds live in the file's security settings, and unlocking removes the password and permissions restrictions from a fresh copy you download.

Unlock a PDF you own, step by step

1. 1Open the Unlock PDF tool and add your PDF.
2. 2Enter the password the file was protected with — or leave the field empty if the file only carried a permissions lock that lets it open freely.
3. 3The tool writes a copy of the file with the security removed.
4. 4Download the unlocked PDF and keep it somewhere private.

If you forgot the password

• Try the password you would naturally use for the document type — work, personal or mail-related passes.
• Regenerate the file from its source: re-export the Word, Excel or design file with no password.
• Ask whoever set the password, if the file came from someone else.

Put a lock back on after unlocking

Unlocking is often one half of a workflow. Re-protect the copy afterwards with the Protect PDF tool to choose a fresh password, or tidy the file first with Edit PDF and then lock the finished version. The file is yours to manage.

Private and free

The unlock runs entirely in your browser, so nothing about the file — its password, its contents or even its existence — crosses a server. It is free, needs no account, and works on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android alike.