Updated · Built and checked by the PlinzoTools team, formulas tested against published sources
Remove the open password from a PDF you have the password for, so it opens without one. Runs in your browser; the author's restrictions are kept.
Choose a PDF to remove its open password.
This tool removes the open password from a PDF you have the password for, so you don't have to type it every time you open, print or share the file. You enter the password once, the tool decrypts the file in your browser, and you download a copy that opens directly. It is for documents you're entitled to use -- your own bank statements, payslips and protected reports -- and it needs the correct password; it doesn't guess or bypass passwords.
Choose or drop the protected PDF. The tool checks what kind of protection the file has. If it needs a password to open, type the password and click Unlock PDF, then download the unlocked copy, which is saved with "-unlocked" added to the file name. If the password is wrong, you'll be told straight away and can try again.
A PDF can carry two kinds of protection. An open password encrypts the whole file so it can't be viewed without it -- that's what this tool removes. Permission restrictions are set by the author with a separate permissions password, and limit printing, copying or editing of a file that otherwise opens normally. This tool removes the open password only. If the author also set restrictions, the unlocked copy keeps exactly the same restrictions.
Knowing the open password means you're allowed to read a document. It doesn't mean the author allowed printing, copying or editing -- that decision is tied to the permissions password, which you may not have. So the unlocked copy opens without a password but keeps the original's restrictions, exactly as the author set them. Unlocking never hands out more rights than the file gave you.
Many banks send monthly statements as PDFs that open with, say, your date of birth or part of your account number. If you're filing a year of statements for an accountant, typing the password into every file gets tedious. Drop in each statement, enter its password, unlock, and save the copies to your records folder. The content, links and document properties are kept exactly as they were; only the password requirement is gone. Keep the unlocked copies somewhere private -- they're now readable by anyone who has the file.
Removing the password from a document you own, or one you've been given the password for, is an everyday task -- it's the same as typing the password once and saving a copy. What matters is what happens next. An unlocked file can be opened by anyone who has it, so keep unlocked statements and records in a private folder or an encrypted drive, and don't email unlocked copies of sensitive documents. If a document came from an employer, a client or a publisher, follow any terms that came with it; unlocking a file doesn't change who it belongs to or what you agreed to do with it. When you need to share a sensitive file again, protect it with a password of your own first.
The unlocked copy is a new file; the original protected file is left untouched, so you can keep it as the authoritative version and delete the unlocked copy when you no longer need it.
To combine unlocked files into one, use Merge PDF. To add a new password, use Password Protect PDF.
No. It needs the correct password to decrypt the file. It doesn't guess, crack or bypass passwords, and it won't remove restrictions without the author's permissions password.
No. Decryption happens in your browser and nothing is sent or stored. That matters for exactly the kinds of documents people unlock -- statements, payslips and records.
Because the author restricted those actions with a separate permissions password, and unlocking keeps the author's restrictions. Only the open password is removed. Ask the document's author for an unrestricted copy if you need one.
Check for capital letters and Caps Lock, and for extra spaces copied along with the password. Some senders use a format such as a date written as DDMMYYYY -- check the instructions that came with the document.
Files protected with the standard PDF password security: AES-256, AES-128 and the older RC4 encryption used by earlier versions of Acrobat. Files protected with certificates or digital-rights-management systems use a different mechanism and can't be opened here.