Removing protection from a PDF file. Easy ways to remove password from PDF file. Application of special programs
The degree of protection of a pdf file depends on the owner’s claims to the authorship of the material contained in it. And it can become an obstacle not only to making changes, but even to reading it.
However, nothing is impossible, this also applies to changing protected pdf files. Read below about ways that will help you with this.
There are several ways to remove protection from PDF files.
Using Google Drive
1. Go to the mentioned service in your browser.
2. In the settings, select “Convert downloaded files to Google format.
3. Drag the file into the site window.
4. Expand it to text format.
5. Save the resulting result in a place convenient for you.
The resulting document will consist of text and pictures.
Using PDFUnlock
1. Go to the named site.
2. Upload the file from your computer or from Dropbox or Google Drive.
3. Unlock by pressing the appropriate button.
4. When finished, download the converted document.
Application of special programs
1. Install two free programs: Foxit Reader and CutePDF Writer.
2. Run the file first.
3. Send it to print.
4. In the "Printer" dialog box, select the second installed application.
5. Save the opened document.
When using Microsoft XPS Viewer
1. Open the required file in Adobe Reader.
2. Click Print.
3. From the list of printers, select the above application.
4. Save the resulting result on your computer.
5. The program is included in the operating system and does not require additional downloading.
Unlocking with Ghost Script and Ghost View
1. Download and upload the required software.
2. Right-click to open the file submenu.
3. Rename it by changing the extension in its name to *.ps.
4. Open the resulting document.
5. Select Convert from the menu. Then Device and pdfwrite.
6. Set the resolution to 600 dpi.
7. Save as pdf.
Unblocking via Google Chrome
1. Open the file in the GC browser.
2. Click Print.
3. In Printers, select “Save as PDF”.
SysTools PDF Unlocker Software
Please note– the program is paid. But you can get acquainted with its capabilities in the demo version.
1. Download and install the program.
2. Through the menu, open the pdf file you need.
3. Specify the path to save it.
4. Click Unlock PDF.
Unblocking thepdf.com
1. Log in to the site.
2. Through the site menu, go to PDF Unlock.
3. Click Select and select the desired file.
4. Then Unlock.
5. Download the downloaded and unlocked document to your computer.
You can check the result of the work in the file properties in the Security tab.
This is a small part of the methods for overcoming author's armor, but they are being improved all the time. So stay tuned for information. And we will replenish our database with new data.
Hello site readers! On this page I will try to give you useful information on how to remove protection from pdf files online using completely free methods.
The fact is that even I had to solve this small problem that arose in the process of creating my own subscriber base.
Anyone who follows my blog knows that thanks to mailing services (it used to be SmartResponder until it closed, today it is MailerLite) on some pages there are subscription forms, thanks to which you can expand your database of e-mail addresses and gradually increase the number of subscribers.
But in order for a visitor to want to subscribe, he must be given some usefulness in return, for example, this could be an interesting book in PDF format; you will learn an example of the impact of this method on the reader from the article “”.
And what do you think I had to tinker with? If you are reading this article, then you have guessed that it is in PDF format, in which this free book was saved.
You may encounter protection from:
- Copying material;
- Change of data;
- Printing a document;
- In some cases, even reading the document.
Let's go back to the book with which I had a similar problem.
The fact is that although it is distributed free of charge, it was protected from printing.
Of course, you don't have to print this book, but I personally try to stare at the monitor less, so it would be nice to print out the material and read it anywhere.
As a result, I had to think a little about solving this problem and after just a few minutes I managed to remove the protection from the pdf book.
The answer was found quickly, once again the global network helped, or more precisely, a couple of well-known forums.
I want to tell everyone for the future that if you release something for free, try not to create additional problems for your readers, believe me, they will appreciate it triple.
Online services: ThePDF, FreeMyPDF and PDFUnlock
ThePDF One of the simplest services that copes with any document encodings. The owners of this portal did a great job and created a truly simple but working functionality of the system.
Go to the main page of this online site and select the “PDF Unlock” section, then click the “Select...” button and select the file on your computer.
As you may have already noticed, another good advantage of this service is the conversion of other documents to PDF and vice versa, we talked about this in previous articles using the links provided:
After the file is downloaded, click the “Unlock” button and the document processing process will begin.
After a few seconds, you will be prompted to download the unlocked PDF file. Download the document and check the result of the service.
Look what I got.
Just a few minutes of wasted time and a bunch of saved nerve cells.)) I recommend removing the protection of the pdf format on this portal.
PDFUnlock You can go to this online project using the link provided.
- Select the required file on your computer using the “My Computer” button or from cloud storage using the and buttons.
- Then click “Unlock!”
- You wait a few seconds and the hacked file downloads.
The only thing I didn’t like about this service was that it couldn’t unlock all the downloaded books. ((
FreeMyPDF A very popular service that has proven itself well.
As with everything, you first need to select a file, and then click “Do it”.
I didn’t like that there was a limit on downloaded files of no more than 250 MB.
That's all for me! Now if you need to remove any protection from a PDF file, you know what to do, I’m sure for many people one online service will be enough, since they cope with the tasks perfectly well.
If the article was useful, click on any social media button, and if something is not clear, then ask questions in the comments.
Password protecting a PDF is quite simple and the password can be easily added using Adobe's own tool or using a third party tool. The ability to add a password using multiple tools also means that it's quite difficult to remove the password manually if you want to make a PDF file free and accessible to others. Luckily, there are third party applications, such as the free one PDF Password Remover, which will allow you to remove the owner and user password (the former is used to restrict PDF editing, while the latter is needed to open the PDF).
It is worth distinguishing between these two important definitions:
Owner password: Also known as a "permissions change password," this is a password that the owner of a PDF document uses to restrict editing functions on the document (such as copying, printing, comments, and other text edits).
User password: This is the name and password that the user uses to access the password-protected PDF file.
However, the tools will require you to provide a user password if the PDFs are encrypted using AES 128 or AES 256. If the PDF file is password protected using a third-party tool or you have a user password, then you can remove all types of passwords in a few clicks .
Below are some tools that will allow you to remove the owner password and even the user password if conditions allow.
Note: You should only remove password protection from a PDF file that you own or have full rights to modify as you please.
The official way to remove PDF password is to use Adobe's own tool Adobe Acrobat Pro. This is a paid tool with a 30-day free trial, so you can easily remove protection inside the PDF viewer without the need for third-party tools.
Download Adobe Acrobat Pro from the official website for a 30-day fully functional trial or purchase it if needed. Open a protected PDF using your user password in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Once inside, you can easily remove the PDF user owner and password. Click on Secure(lock icon) in the main interface and in the menu, click on the button Remove Security.
You will be prompted for a password, enter it and click OK to remove the password. After the password is removed, save the document, otherwise the changes will not be applied, including removing the password.
Removing PDF password using a third-party program
The official way from Adobe is good, but not very functional. It requires you to enter your user password even if the PDF file is not encrypted. To simplify the process and take advantage of additional features, it is better to opt for third-party utilities.
Most third-party tools are free and allow you to remove password protection in single and batch modes. Below is the Free PDF Password Remover tool developed by 4dots Software, which is completely free and very easy to use.
Download the program and when installing, make sure you select the option Integrate with Windows Explorer, if you want to add an option Add file to the window context menu (this is convenient).
To add files, you can click on Add file or Add folder, depending on whether you want to add a file or folder containing protected PDF files.
Once the file(s) are added, you need to specify the output folder. Or click on the button Browse under Output Folder to select a folder manually, or use the drop-down menu to select the desired location.
Now that a folder has been selected to save the finished result, all you need to do is click on Remove Passwords - Remove passwords. If the file is not encrypted, the password will be removed (both the owner password and the user password).
If the file has been encrypted, you will be prompted to enter the user password. Simply enter your password and click on the "OK" button to create an unprotected file.
The new file will not have any password and will be accessible to anyone. You can also add files by simply dragging and dropping them into the tool's interface. Additionally, the option to add a file will also be added to the context menu (if you enabled it during installation). Simply right-click on the PDF file and select from the context menu Remove PDF Password.
Removing Password from PDF Using Online Tool
There are also many free online services that will allow you to download a secure PDF file and then remove the password. It may not be as convenient as using a desktop tool, but it has its advantages. It is also less secure since these services will have a copy of your files. Therefore, it is better not to use online tools if the PDF file contains sensitive information.
One such site is Unlock PDF. Very easy to use and does not require registration to work. The tool removes owner and user passwords from an unencrypted PDF file, or will ask for the user's password if the file is encrypted.
On the official website click on the button Choose file -Select file to select a PDF file from your computer. You can simply drag the file into the field Drop PDF here or download files from
PDF files, developed by Adobe Systems, are one of the most common formats used to create various electronic documents, books, instructions, textbooks and other similar materials. To protect content, their creators often put protection on them that limits the ability to open, print, copy, and other restrictions. But it also happens that there is a need to modify a ready-made file, and the password for it is lost over time or due to other circumstances. How to get out of this situation will be discussed further.
Using special programs to remove protection from a PDF file is one of the most effective ways to solve the problem. There are quite a lot of such software. Despite the same purpose, they may differ slightly in the range of functions and conditions of use. Let's look at some of them in more detail.
Method 1: PDF Password Remover Tool
It is completely free and very easy to use. Its interface is extremely minimalist.
The PDF Password Remover Tool removes most types of passwords from a file. It can remove password from PDF files up to version 1.7 level 8 with 128-bit RC4 encoding.
Decryption is carried out as follows:
This completes removing restrictions from the file.
Method 2: Free PDF Unlocker
Another free program to remove password from PDF file. Just like the previous tool, it is easy to use. The developers position it as a product that can be easily used even by a person who has no experience with computers. Unlike the previous one, this program does not delete the password, but restores it.
The process of unlocking a file can be started in three steps:
- Select the required file.
- Specify the path to save the result.
- Start the password decryption process.
However, if you choose Free PDF Unlocker to solve your problem, you should be patient. The program selects a password using brute force or a dictionary attack. The preferred option is selected in the tab "Settings". Only very simple passwords can be quickly decrypted using this method. In addition, it is not designed for Russian-speaking users and does not correctly display Cyrillic characters on buttons in the Explorer window. 
Thus, despite the fact that advertisements for this application can be seen quite often on the Internet, its only advantage is that it is free.
Method 3: Unrestrict PDF
With Unrestrict PDF, you can remove restrictions from files created in Acrobat 9 and higher. It copes well with protection, which was created using 128 and 256-bit encryption.
Unrestrict PDF is a shareware program. In order to get acquainted with its interface, users are offered a free demo version. Its functions are severely limited. Using the demo version, you can only find out whether the file has set restrictions.
Like other software of this type, its interface is extremely simple. Removing restrictions from a file is done in two steps.
As a result, a separate PDF file is created, in which there are no longer any restrictions.
Method 4: GuaPDF
GuaPDF differs from previous programs in that it can be used both to remove the owner’s password from a file and to recover the user’s password. But the latter is only possible with 40-bit encryption. The program is easy to use and does not require installation. Can remove owner passwords created using even 256-bit AES encryption.
GuaPDF is a paid program. Users can download a demo version for free for evaluation purposes. This is worth doing because in cases where the file is small, it is fully functional.
To start the decryption process, just select the required file by opening Explorer on the appropriate tab. Everything starts automatically. 
GuaPDF removes restrictions placed on a file instantly, but if you need to recover a user’s password, its work can take a very long time.
Method 5: qpdf
This is a console utility for working with PDF files. Its advantage is the ability to both encrypt and decrypt files. All major encryption methods are supported.
But to use qpdf confidently, the user must have command line skills.
In order to remove protection from a file, you must:
This will create a new PDF file with no restrictions.
The list of programs that help solve such a problem as removing a password from a PDF goes on and on. It follows from this that this task is not at all an insoluble problem and has many ways to solve it.
Removing a password from a document can be useful in many situations. For example, the user may need to convert a pdf, print it, or open it in another program. The Internet offers many options for paid services and applications that can help with this, but you can also find options where payment is not required.
In the beginning, we will talk about sites that can remove the password from a file and will not require installation on the user’s computer, all that will be needed is upload pdf to website, wait for processing to complete and download it back.
Resource Freemypdf.com
A fairly old and well-known site that will help you unlock the ability to edit a file, allow you to print it or copy a piece of text. Despite the fact that the site is in English, it will be quite difficult to get confused. First it will be necessary upload file, and then click " DoIt!", after a short wait, it can be received on the device again. However, this service will not allow you to understand the PDF, which cannot be opened at all without entering a password.
Decryption using pdfunlock.com
A very easy to use service. Can select location the desired pdf or simply drag it onto the site page. Then you just have to press “ Unlock", wait a little and get it back already unlocked. 
We use smallpdf.com
Another site that will help you unlock pdf. Translated into Russian, so understanding it will not be difficult. Even on the main page they honestly warn that documents with strong encryption cannot be unlocked. Also here conversion available file into a different format, separation and merging of data presented in PDF.
Resource pdf.io
You just need drag and drop pdf to the site page, and then just wait for the unlocking process to complete. The service will also allow you to swap pages in documents and convert from one format to another. Translated into Russian and easy to use.
Unlocking programs
These utilities will require installation on the user's device. This action will make sense if online services fail, or if the user often has to deal with such files.
PDF Password Remover Tool
A fairly simple utility, which, nevertheless, will allow you to cope with most encrypted documents. Program distributed free of charge and it is best to download it from the developer’s website, this will allow you to avoid excesses with additional and malicious software, which the authors of various unreliable sites and “assemblies” love to shove into programs.
The first line will need specify the path to the document, on which the password is set. In the second line you must specify the folder and name under which the result of the utility will be saved. 
PDF Unlocker
Another free program that is very easy to use. Needed in the first line indicate the path to the encrypted data, and in the second, where you will need to save the result of the program. After that, all that remains is to press the bottom button and wait for the unlocking process to complete. 
VeryPDF Password Remover
If none of the options help, you can use this utility. She is able to cope with documents of any complexity. The only drawback is that the utility is paid and costs about $30. However, it is possible to download a trial version. In any case, if there are no options, and the document needs to be unlocked urgently, then you can use this program. 