Unlock PDF with the password you know

What Unlock PDF does, and when you need it

Unlock PDF makes a copy of a locked PDF that opens without a password and has nothing blocked: you can print it, copy its text and fill it in like any other PDF. You need the password the file opens with, or no password at all if the file opens freely but won't let you print or copy. It all happens inside your browser: the file and the password stay on your phone or computer.

Many everyday PDFs arrive locked with a password, so that only the person they were sent to can open them:

• Bank and credit card statements, sent every month by email.
• Salary slips and Form 16, from an employer or a payroll company.
• e-Aadhaar and other documents downloaded from government websites.
• Insurance policies, loan papers and mutual fund statements.
• Phone, electricity and other bills sent as PDFs.

A password is a good way to send such a file, but a nuisance afterwards. Many upload portals, for a loan, a visa, a rental agreement or a job, can't read a PDF that needs a password, and turn it away or show an error. Merging statements into one file, compressing them or printing them from another app often fails for the same reason. And typing the password every time you open the file gets old. An unlocked copy fixes all of that.

The two kinds of PDF lock

A PDF can be locked in two ways, and many people meet both without knowing the difference:

• A password to open it. The PDF app asks for a password before it shows anything. Without it, the file can't be read at all: its text and pictures are scrambled with a key that only the password unlocks. Bank statements and salary slips are usually locked this way. This is sometimes called the user password or document open password.
• Restrictions. The file opens without a password, but the PDF app greys out Print, or won't let you copy text, fill in forms or change pages. These limits come with a second password, the owner password or permissions password, which only the file's maker is meant to know. Forms, e-books and some official documents come like this.

Some files have both: a password to open them, and restrictions on top. Unlock PDF removes everything in one go. For a file that needs a password to open, either password works: the one you were given, or the owner password if you have that. For a file that only has restrictions, you don't need any password: just add it, and the copy comes back with nothing blocked.

To tell which kind you have, open the file in any PDF app. If it asks for a password first, it has a password to open. If it opens straight away but Print or Copy doesn't work, it only has restrictions.

Step by step: unlocking a PDF on this page

1. Add the locked PDF. Press Choose locked PDF and pick one or several files, drop them anywhere on this page, or paste one you copied. To try it first, press Try with a sample locked PDF: it makes a one-page sample salary slip, locked with the password sample1234, which its row shows.
2. Wait a moment. Each file gets a row, and its lock is checked straight away. A file that only has restrictions is unlocked at once, with no password needed. A file that isn't locked at all says so, because there is nothing to remove.
3. Type the password. A file that needs one shows a lock and a password box. Type the password exactly as you were given it, with the same capital and small letters, and press Unlock or Enter. The eye button in the box shows what you typed, to check it.
4. Download. The row then says what the file was locked with, such as AES 256-bit, and what was blocked, like printing or copying. Press Download to save the copy. Its name ends in -unlocked, like statement-unlocked.pdf, so your original stays as it was.

If the password is wrong, the row says so and the box stays, so you can try again. Nothing is counted and nothing is locked out: type it as many times as you need.

If you don't know the password

Unlock PDF only works with the password: it never guesses one and never tries to break a lock. A PDF locked with a modern lock and a good password can't be opened without that password by anyone, including us. So if a file needs a password and you don't have it, here is what usually helps:

1. Read the email or message the file came with. Banks, employers and others who send locked statements usually explain the password in that email, often as a rule made from details they already have about you, rather than the password itself. Read the whole email, including the small print at the bottom.
2. Check the sender's website or app. Many banks, card companies, payroll companies and government sites explain the password of their PDFs in their help pages or on the page where you downloaded the file, such as the page where you download e-Aadhaar. Look there for words like "password to open the PDF".
3. Ask the sender. Customer care, your company's HR or payroll team, or whoever sent the file can tell you how its password works, or send it again without one.
4. Download it again. Some sites let you download a statement or document again, sometimes with a password you choose, or without one.

We don't list any bank's or government site's password rule here: such rules differ between senders and change over time, and a rule copied from somewhere else may be out of date. The sender's own email or website is the place to check.

Which PDF locks it opens

PDF files have been locked in a few ways over the years. Unlock PDF opens all the kinds made with a password, the standard PDF way:

The bits say how long the secret key is. Longer keys are harder to break: an RC4 40-bit lock is weak by today's standards, while AES 256-bit can't be broken by trying keys. None of that matters here, because Unlock PDF opens the lock with its password, the way any PDF app does.

We tested each kind on files locked by qpdf and by pypdf, two widely used PDF programs, and on a password-locked file made by LibreOffice. Real results has the details.

What stays the same in your PDF

Unlocking takes the scrambling off every part of the file and writes it again without a lock. Nothing on the pages is redrawn, so the copy looks and works exactly like the original did once opened:

• Every page, in the same order, with the same text, fonts and pictures. Text stays searchable and copyable.
• Links and bookmarks still lead to the right pages and websites.
• Forms keep their fields and anything already filled in, and can be filled in again.
• Attachments and the document's details, such as its title and author, stay.
• The size stays about the same. It is often a little smaller, because the copy packs its small internal parts more tightly.

Two things change on purpose: the copy has no password, and nothing in it is blocked. One more thing changes as a result. A PDF with a digital signature, the coded seal that shows a document hasn't changed since it was signed, no longer carries a valid signature in the unlocked copy, and its row says so. Keep the original if the signature matters, for example for a document you must show to an official.

Real results from our tests

We unlocked these PDFs in Chromium 141, the open-source browser Google Chrome is built on, on a Linux computer with 4 processor cores and 16 GB of memory. Each one was first locked with a password to open it by qpdf, a widely used PDF program, except the sample, which the page locks itself. Times are what the page reported from pressing Unlock to the Download button, the middle of three tries; your device may be faster or slower.

• 0.1 sto unlock the sample salary slip
• 1.3 sfor a 42-page, 47.8 MB scan locked with AES 256-bit
• 0.3 sto say a wrong password is wrong, for that 47.8 MB scan
• 0 bytessent to any server

Every unlocked copy opened without a password in three other PDF readers: pypdf, PDFium (the PDF engine inside Chrome) and Poppler. Each had every page, the same text on every page as the original, and its first pages looked the same when drawn. The textbook kept all 35 of its bookmarks and 509 links, and the form all 8 filled-in answers.

Checking the lock is quick too. After a file was added, its password box showed up within 0.1 s for the form and the paper, 0.3 s for the textbook, 0.6 s for the 47.8 MB scan and 3.4 s for the 454.8 MB scan. A wrong password was said to be wrong in under 0.1 s for the form, 0.2 s for the textbook and 2.3 s for the 454.8 MB scan.

We also tested every kind of lock on its own, running the same lock engine outside the browser, on 81 PDFs made by many different apps: 520 pages in all, from one page to 117, with 9 forms, 146 bookmarks, 1,617 links, scans, attachments and Arabic text among them. qpdf and pypdf locked each PDF 17 ways: RC4 40-bit and 128-bit, AES 128-bit and both versions of AES 256-bit, with and without packed internal parts, and with restrictions only. Each locked file was then unlocked with the password to open it and with the owner password, or with no password for restrictions only. All 2,592 unlocked copies opened without a password in pypdf, PDFium, Poppler and qpdf, with every page, the same text, and every bookmark, link and form field. A file locked with RC4 128-bit by LibreOffice, the free office suite, unlocked with its password too, and matched the copy qpdf unlocked. The largest file we tried was a 1,000-page scan of 1.11 GB, locked with AES 256-bit: it asked for its password 8.8 s after it was added, and was unlocked in 38.3 s. While the 454.8 MB scan was unlocked, the browser used about 1.3 GB more memory than when idle, because the locked file and the unlocked copy are both held in memory; for the 47.8 MB scan it was about 0.2 GB.

Passwords in Hindi and other languages

Most PDF passwords are made of English letters and digits, and those always work. A password can also have letters of other languages, like Hindi, Tamil, Bengali or accented letters such as é. Type it exactly as you were given it, with the same keyboard language. What happens next depends on the kind of lock:

• AES 256-bit. PDF stores these passwords as Unicode text, so letters of any language work. The PDF standard asks for the typed text to be tidied up first, with a step called SASLprep: special spaces become plain spaces, invisible characters are dropped and look-alike forms of the same letter are made the same. Not every PDF app does that step, so Unlock PDF tries the password both ways, tidied up and exactly as typed.
• RC4 and AES 128-bit. These older locks store passwords as one byte per letter, and each app turns letters into bytes its own way. Unlock PDF tries the ways PDF apps use: PDF's own letter table, the Windows table for Western European languages and UTF-8, the usual way to store any language. English letters, digits and Western European accented letters are found by all of them. Letters of other languages work when the app that locked the file used UTF-8; some older apps can't store them at all.

Every one of these is only a different way of writing the password you typed, never a guess at another password. In our tests of files locked by qpdf, passwords with Hindi, German and Japanese letters opened AES 256-bit files, café €5 an AES 128-bit file, a Hindi password stored as UTF-8 an RC4 128-bit file and Grüße an RC4 40-bit file. Passwords with spaces in them worked in every kind.

Unlocking several PDFs at once

Add as many PDFs as you like, all at once or a few at a time with Add more PDFs. They are checked one after another, each in its own row.

Statements from the same bank usually share one password. Type it once, on any of the rows: Unlock PDF then tries it on every file still waiting for a password, so twelve monthly statements need it typed only once. A file with a different password keeps its box, ready for its own password. The passwords you type are kept only in this page's memory while it is open, and are forgotten when you close or reload the page.

Each unlocked file has its own Download button. When two or more are unlocked, a Download all button under the rows saves them in one ZIP file, unlocked-pdfs.zip. To join the unlocked statements into one PDF, use Merge PDF next. To send them by email, our PDF compressor can make them smaller.

What a PDF password does, and doesn't, protect

It helps to know what a PDF password is good for, both to judge when to remove one and when to keep it:

• A password to open protects what's in the file. With an AES lock and a password that is hard to guess, the text, pictures, form answers and attachments can't be read without the password. That keeps a statement safe in an email inbox, on a shared computer or in a cloud folder.
• It is only as strong as the password. A program can try many passwords very quickly, so a short password or one made from a name and a date of birth, like many statement passwords, can be found by someone who knows those details or tries them all. An RC4 40-bit lock can be broken without the password at all, with tools anyone can download.
• Restrictions are a request, not a lock. Blocks on printing, copying and changes don't scramble anything: the file opens for everyone, and PDF apps that respect the restrictions grey out those buttons. Apps that don't respect them, and tools like this one, simply ignore them. They stop casual copying, not a determined person.
• Once opened, a file can be passed on. Anyone who can open the PDF can print it, take screenshots, save an unlocked copy or forward it with its password. A password protects a file on its way and while stored, not after someone you trust has opened it.
• Some things are never hidden. Even locked, a PDF shows its file name and size, and parts of how it is built, such as how many pictures it holds and their sizes in pixels. The lock scrambles what the file holds, not how it is put together.

So remove a password when it gets in your way, and keep the unlocked copy as carefully as you would keep the paper original. To lock a file again, with a password of your own, use Protect PDF.

After unlocking: upload, store and send safely

1. Upload the unlocked copy. Its name ends in -unlocked. Rename it if the portal asks for a certain name, and if it wants the file under a size, such as 200 KB, put it through Resize PDF after unlocking.
2. Keep the original. The locked original stays as it was on your device. It is the copy to keep for your records, because it is still protected.
3. Delete copies you no longer need. An unlocked statement in your Downloads folder can be opened by anyone using your phone or computer. Delete it after uploading, or keep it in a folder only you can open.
4. Lock it again before sending it on. To email the file to someone else, lock it with a password of your own using Protect PDF, and tell them the password another way, such as in a phone call.

Whose files to unlock

Unlock PDF is meant for documents that are yours or that you are allowed to use: your statements, your salary slips, your certificates, forms you need to fill in, and files a colleague or a client sent you to work with. Removing a password you were given is much like opening the file and saving a copy, which any PDF app lets you do.

Restrictions on printing or copying sometimes protect someone's work, such as a book or a paid report. Removing them doesn't change who owns that work or what you may do with it, so respect the wishes of whoever made the file, and its copyright. When in doubt, ask the sender.

Private: your file and password stay on your device

Locked PDFs are locked because they are private, so a tool that uploads them to unlock them defeats the point. With NoUploadPDF, the file and the password never leave your phone or computer. Your browser reads the file, and our lock engine, written in Rust and compiled to WebAssembly, opens and rewrites it in a background worker on your device. The password is handed to that worker and forgotten when the page closes; it is never saved, logged or sent.

The page can't send your files or passwords to another site, even by mistake. Its Content Security Policy, a rule the website gives your browser, tells the browser to block the page from sending data to any other site. There is no account to create and nothing to sign in to. If you like, you can check in your browser's network panel that nothing is uploaded.

Compared with tools that upload your files

Many online PDF unlockers upload your file, and often the password too, to their servers, unlock it there and send the result back. Here is how that compares with working on your own device:

Many upload-based tools are well made, and some promise to delete your files after a while. A bank statement and its password that are never uploaded need no such promise.

Use it on Android, iPhone, Windows and Mac

There is nothing to install: Unlock PDF runs in an up-to-date browser on phones, tablets and computers.

• Android

  Open this page in Chrome or another up-to-date browser and tap Choose locked PDF. A statement you got by email is usually in your Downloads folder once you have opened it. Type the password and tap Unlock; the copy is saved to Downloads.

• iPhone and iPad

  Use Safari. Save the PDF from Mail to the Files app first, then tap Choose locked PDF and pick it there. The unlocked copy usually goes to Downloads in the Files app.

• Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook

  Click Choose locked PDF, or drag PDFs from a folder and drop them anywhere on the page. The unlocked copies go to your Downloads folder.

On a phone, the keyboard may start with a capital letter or change a word as you type the password. Use the eye button to see what you typed, and turn off the capital if the password starts with a small letter.

Problems and quick fixes

• "That password didn't open it." Check capital and small letters, and that Caps Lock is off. Look for a space at the start or end, the letter O typed for the digit 0, or a keyboard set to another language. Make sure it is the password of this file: statements from different banks, or from different years, can have different passwords.
• "Not locked." The file opens without a password and nothing in it is blocked, so there is nothing to remove. If your PDF app still won't let you print, the block is in the app, or the file is a scan made only of pictures, whose text can't be selected anyway.
• "Locked in a way this tool can't open." The file is locked with a digital certificate or for a special reader app, not with a password. Only the app or the person it was made for can open it, so ask the sender for an ordinary copy.
• "Can't be read as a PDF." The file may be damaged or only partly downloaded. Download it again from where you got it, then add the new copy.
• "Too big for this browser's memory." Close other tabs, or use a computer, which usually has more memory than a phone.
• The copy still asks for a password. Check that you opened the new file, whose name ends in -unlocked, not the original.

Limits

• It needs the password. A file that needs a password to open can only be unlocked with it, or with its owner password. Unlock PDF never guesses or cracks passwords.
• Password locks only. Files locked with certificates, or made for a special reader app, can't be opened here.
• Damaged locked files. If parts of a locked file are damaged, it can't be unlocked safely, and the row says the file can't be read. A file without a lock is never changed.
• Signatures. A digital signature isn't valid on the unlocked copy.
• Memory. We set no size limit, but the file has to fit in your device's memory, along with the copy being made. Phones have less than computers, so very big files are easier on a computer.
• Scans stay scans. Unlocking a scanned statement doesn't make its words searchable: a scan made only of pictures stays that way.

PDF lock terms, explained

Password to open

The password a PDF app asks for before it shows a locked file. Also called the user password or document open password.

Owner password

A second password, meant for the file's maker, that lifts restrictions. It also opens the file. Also called the permissions password.

Restrictions

Blocks on printing, copying, changes, comments or filling in forms, which PDF apps that respect them obey. Also called permissions.

Encryption

Scrambling data with a secret key so it can only be read with that key. In a locked PDF, the key comes from the password.

AES and RC4

Two ways of scrambling data. AES is the modern one, used by banks and websites; RC4 is older and weaker.

128-bit, 256-bit

The length of the secret key. Each extra bit doubles the number of possible keys.

SASLprep

A rule for tidying up typed text, which the PDF standard asks apps to apply to AES 256-bit passwords, so the same password typed on different devices becomes the same bytes.

Digital signature

A coded seal that shows who signed a PDF and that it hasn't changed since. A changed copy no longer carries a valid one.