Unlock a PDF

How to remove a password from a PDF here

1. Open the PDF. Tap Choose a PDF, or drop the file on the box. The page reads the file's encryption dictionary and shows whether it is encrypted, with which cipher, and whether it asks for a password when opened.
2. Type the open password. It is the one your reader asks for. Tap Show to check what you typed; capitals and the keyboard layout matter.
3. Tap Unlock. The file is decrypted here, object by object, and written back without encryption. A wrong password gives a message and no file.
4. Check, then save. Before the button appears, the new copy is opened again with no password and its pages, form fields, attachments and bookmarks are counted against the original. Tap Save unlocked PDF; the copy is named after the original with -unlocked added.

What it cannot do

• It cannot find, guess or crack a password, and never tries. You need the open password (or the owner password). One wrong attempt is one message; there is no retry loop and no word list.
• A file that already opens without a password is left as it is. Some PDFs are encrypted only to carry "no printing" or "no editing" flags and open in any reader; the page says so and changes nothing.
• It does not add a password. It only removes one.
• Certificate encryption and server-controlled rights are not password security. Files locked to a digital ID, or that check with a server before opening, cannot be unlocked here.
• A digital signature on the file will no longer verify. Removing encryption rewrites the file, so a signature made over the encrypted bytes shows as changed. The pages and the signature's appearance stay.

What "unlocking" changes, and what it keeps

A password-protected PDF stores every text string and every stream (page drawings, fonts, images, attachments) encrypted with a key derived from the password. The /Encrypt dictionary at the file's end names the method: V 1 is RC4 with a 40-bit key, V 2 RC4 with up to 128 bits, V 4 crypt filters with RC4 or AES-128, and V 5 AES-256. A reader that has the right password decrypts on the fly; this page does the same, then writes each object back in plain form and drops the /Encrypt entry from the trailer.

Nothing is re-drawn. Text stays selectable and searchable, form fields stay fillable with their values, bookmarks and attachments stay where they were, and the size stays close to the original (it can grow a little, because the copy is written with a plain cross-reference table). For example, a 3-page payslip encrypted with AES-256 that holds one form field and one attached receipt comes out as 3 pages, 1 field and 1 attachment, and opens in any reader without asking. If any count differs, the page shows which and does not offer the file.

Under the hood, @cantoo/pdf-lib 2.11.1 (MIT) does the decryption and writing, and PDF.js (the viewer built into Firefox) re-opens the result as the check. Both are pinned copies served from this page and load only when you open a file.

Questions

Is it free and online, with nothing uploaded?

Yes: no account, no watermark and no file-size limit set by us. The page is online, but the PDF is decrypted inside your browser with the password you type, and neither is sent to a server.

Can it open a PDF whose password I do not know?

No. It removes a password you already have; it cannot find, guess or crack one and never tries. If you have lost the password to your own statement or payslip, ask whoever sent it how it was set, or ask for a fresh copy.

How do I remove the password from a PDF on a Mac or iPhone?

Open this page in Safari, Chrome or Firefox. On a Mac, drag the PDF onto the box; on an iPhone or iPad, tap Choose a PDF and pick it from Files. Type the password, tap Unlock, then Save unlocked PDF. Nothing to install.

Can I edit a password-protected PDF after unlocking it?

Yes, if you knew its open password: the editing, printing and copying restrictions live inside the same encryption, so the unlocked copy has none. Then fill it, sign it or reorder its pages. A PDF that opens without a password but blocks editing is not changed here.

Which kinds of PDF password protection does it handle?

The standard password security every reader uses: RC4 with 40-bit or 128-bit keys, AES-128 and AES-256. The page tells you which one a file uses before you type anything. Certificate-based encryption and server-controlled rights are different systems and are not handled.