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How to Password-Protect and Unlock a PDF in Your Browser

Add a password to a PDF or remove protection with a known password. Follow the browser-based workflow, file limit and checks before sharing.

ConverterTo has two separate tools: PDF Encrypt adds password protection to an unencrypted PDF; PDF Decrypt removes it when you already know the password. Neither tool recovers a forgotten password.

Add a password

  1. Open PDF Encrypt.
  2. Select one unencrypted PDF, up to 100 MB (100 × 1024 × 1024 bytes).
  3. Enter a non-empty password in the password field.
  4. Start conversion and download the protected copy.
  5. Open that copy in your PDF reader and verify that it requests the password and opens with the password you entered.

The original file is not replaced. Keep it until you have checked the output. The tool does not offer separate permission controls for printing, copying or editing.

Remove a known password

  1. Open PDF Decrypt.
  2. Select one protected PDF within the same 100 MB limit.
  3. Enter its current password.
  4. Start conversion and download the unlocked copy.
  5. Close and reopen the downloaded file to check that it no longer requests a password.

You can then use PDF Split or PDF Merge on the unlocked copy. To change an existing password, decrypt first, then encrypt the resulting file with the new password.

Processing and limitations

Both tools run in your browser; the PDF and entered password are not sent to a conversion server. Keep the tab open until the download is complete. The size limit is not a guarantee that every device has enough memory to process a file close to it.

Decryption copies pages into a new document. Do not assume bookmarks, interactive forms, attachments or digital signatures are retained. Check any document features you depend on before using the output.

If conversion fails

Already encrypted: use the decrypt tool first; the encrypt tool rejects a protected input.

Not encrypted: the decrypt tool has nothing to remove. Use the encrypt tool if you want to add protection.

Wrong password, damaged or unsupported file: verify the password and that your PDF reader can open the original. If the browser still fails, use a compatible desktop tool. Smaller files may help on memory-limited devices.

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