Unlock PDF
Unlock PDF removes password protection from a document when you supply the correct password, producing a copy that opens freely. This tool does not crack, guess or bypass passwords - you must know the password already. If you do not, we cannot help, and neither should anyone else.
1 Add your file
Enter the open password to use it here. It is checked in your browser and never sent anywhere.
2 Choose your options
This tool decrypts a document you can already open. It does not crack, guess or bypass a password, and we will not build something that does — a tool that opened other people's documents would be a tool for reading other people's documents. If you have lost your own password, the honest answer is that AES-128 with a decent password is not recoverable, and any site claiming otherwise is either lying or attacking short passwords by brute force.
How to unlock PDF
Add the protected PDF
We read its encryption settings and tell you which algorithm it uses.
Type the password you already know
It is verified locally against the document's own check value. Nothing is transmitted.
Download the unlocked copy
A decrypted copy, with your original left exactly as it was.
Why some locks open instantly and others never do
Removing permission restrictions is not an attack. A PDF carrying only an owner password is still encrypted, but the key is derived in a way that does not require that password — any conforming reader can already decrypt it. The restrictions work because readers voluntarily obey the flags, so removing them is a rewrite rather than a break.
A document with a user password is a different matter entirely. Its content is genuinely sealed, and without the password there is nothing to read. That is not a limitation of this tool; it is what encryption means.
A worked example
A downloaded manual has printing disabled, apparently by an export setting nobody intended. Because that is a permissions flag, the restriction comes off immediately and the file prints normally. By contrast, a bank statement that asks for a password before it will display anything cannot be opened without that password by any means other than guessing it.
Limitations worth knowing
- A user password cannot be recovered or bypassed. If the document will not open without a password, this tool cannot help.
- Only permission restrictions can be removed, and only from a file you already hold.
- Remove restrictions from documents you own or are entitled to use. Redistributing material you have no right to is a question about the content, not the tool.
- Very old RC4-encrypted files may need re-saving before some readers accept the unlocked result.
- Digital signatures are invalidated, because the file is rewritten.
Further reading
PDF Passwords Explained: Open Passwords, Permissions and Real Encryption
Related tools
Unlock PDF — frequently asked questions
No. This decrypts a document you can already open. A tool that did otherwise would be a tool for reading other people's private documents, and we are not going to publish one.
Honestly, few. Check your password manager, your browser's saved passwords, and whoever sent you the file. If you created it from a source document, re-export from that. Modern PDF encryption is not recoverable by design, and sites promising otherwise are relying on your password being short.
They go too. The output is a completely unrestricted PDF: printable, copyable and editable, exactly as it would have been before it was protected.
RC4 40-bit and 128-bit (revisions 2 and 3) and AES-128 (revision 4), which covers the overwhelming majority of protected PDFs. AES-256 (revisions 5 and 6) is not supported yet; a desktop reader can re-save those without a password.
No. It is used to derive a key in this tab and is then discarded. Nothing about the document or the password leaves your device.
From your own documents, yes. From someone else's, that depends on where you are and what you agreed to, and it is your responsibility rather than ours. Use this on files you have the right to open.