Protect PDF

Add your PDF in the box above, type a password, type it again to confirm and click Protect PDF. You download a copy that asks for the password every time it's opened. It's free, with no watermark and no sign-up.

The file is encrypted with 256-bit AES, the strongest standard PDF encryption, so its content can't be read without the password. The password itself is the weak point: use 4 to 20 characters mixing letters, numbers and symbols, and avoid names and birth dates.

Under the permissions, switch off Allow printing, Allow copying text & images or Allow editing before you protect the file. Standard PDF readers then block those actions. Keep in mind that these restrictions are a courtesy lock: anyone who knows the open password can remove them with common tools, so share the password only with people you trust.

Not with this tool. It always sets a password that's needed to open the file, and the printing, copying and editing restrictions are added on top of it.

Yes. Anyone with the password can open and print it, unless you switched off Allow printing before protecting it.

With a free account you can protect up to 3 PDFs at once (80 MB each, 120 MB in total), with one shared password or a different password for each file. The protected files download together in one ZIP.

4 to 20 characters: letters A–Z and a–z, numbers and standard keyboard symbols. It can't start with a dash. Letters outside the Latin alphabet aren't accepted, because many PDF readers can't type them reliably.

It can't be recovered, by us or anyone else, which is exactly what makes the protection work. Keep the password somewhere safe, or keep an unprotected copy of the file in a secure place.

Open this page in Safari or Chrome, add the PDF, set the password and protect it. No app is needed; the protected PDF is saved to your downloads.

Yes. In Word for Windows, choose File > Save As, pick PDF, open Options and tick Encrypt the document with a password. Use this tool for PDFs you already have, on a phone, or when you also want to block printing or copying.

Send the file and the password separately, for example the PDF by email and the password by text message or a phone call. That way, one intercepted message isn't enough to open it.

No. Adobe Acrobat Reader, browsers like Chrome, Edge and Safari, Preview on Mac and phone PDF apps all ask for the password and open the file.

Use Unlock PDF and type the password once; you get a copy that opens without it.

Yes. It's sent over an encrypted HTTPS connection, used only to encrypt your file and deleted right after. Files are deleted automatically within one hour. In Browser mode, encryption happens on your own device and nothing is uploaded.