Your PDFs
Drop more PDFs anywhere on this card. They all get the same password.
Locked!
Good to know
Password protect a PDF in a few seconds. Add an open password, decide who may print, copy or edit, and lock it all with AES-256 encryption - the same strength Adobe Acrobat uses. Changed your mind later? Unlock PDF removes a password you know, and Compress PDF slims the file down before you lock it.
Drop more PDFs anywhere on this card. They all get the same password.
No PDF handy? Press Try a top-secret sample and lock our very serious cookie recipe.
A PDF can carry two different passwords, and you can use one or both.
Needed to view the file at all. The whole document is encrypted, so without the password the pages are just scrambled bytes.
Anyone can open the file, but printing, copying or editing is limited. Only this password can change those limits.
Sending a contract you do not want edited? Turn off Require a password to open and switch off editing. Sending payslips or medical records? Use an open password and share it by phone or text, never in the same email.
| Encryption | Opens in | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| AES-256 (default) | Acrobat 9+, every browser, phone and Mac Preview | Always, unless someone is stuck on very old software |
| AES-128 | Acrobat 7+ and most readers since 2005 | A partner's document system rejects AES-256 |
| RC4 128-bit | Practically everything, even very old apps | Last resort - RC4 is considered weak today |
The encryption method matters less than the password. A 14-character password with words, numbers and a symbol beats any setting you can pick here.
Drop your PDF in the box above, type an open password twice and press Protect PDF. The locked copy downloads a few seconds later.
There is no sign-up, no watermark and no page limit. Need a strong password? The Generate button makes one and copies it for you.
By default the PDF is encrypted with AES-256, the strongest method the PDF format offers and the one Adobe Acrobat uses. Without the password the pages cannot be read.
AES-128 and RC4 128-bit are there for very old PDF readers only. The real protection is a long password - aim for at least 12 characters.
The open password is needed to view the PDF at all. The permissions password (also called the owner password) is only needed to change what readers may do, such as printing or copying text.
Leave the permissions password empty and we create a long random one for you - it is shown once on the result card, so copy it if you ever want to change the restrictions.
Yes. Open Printing and Allowed actions in the settings and switch off what you want to block. Adobe Acrobat, browsers and most PDF apps respect these settings.
Be aware that permissions are a polite request that some software ignores. If nobody else should read the content, use an open password - that one is real encryption.
Your PDF travels over HTTPS and is deleted from our server as soon as the protected copy has downloaded to your browser (anything left behind is removed within the hour).
Passwords are never stored or logged. They reach the encryption engine through a private temporary file that is deleted right away, never through the command line.
No - and nobody else should be able to either, that is the point of encryption. We never keep a copy of your password.
Keep your original unprotected file somewhere safe. If you still know the password and want it gone, Unlock PDF removes it.
Yes, add up to 10 PDFs (100 MB each). They all get the same password and settings, and three or more come back as a single ZIP file.