Protect & sign
Unlock PDF
Remove the password from a PDF you already have the password for, so it opens without a prompt from now on. Enter the password once and download an unprotected copy.
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PDFOne PDF up to 30 MB
What Unlock PDF does
Unlock PDF is for documents you are entitled to open and change: your own bank statements and pay stubs, files you protected yourself, or documents whose owner has given you the password. Enter it once and the tool saves a copy with the protection removed.
If the PDF asks for a password when it opens, you supply that password. If it opens normally but limits printing, copying or editing, and you are authorized to change it, the button reads Remove restrictions. If you do not know the password, this tool cannot help; ask whoever sent the file for it or for an unprotected copy.
Your browser first checks the file's protection without uploading anything. When you select Unlock PDF, the file and the password go to our server, the copy is decrypted and checked, and the temporary working files are deleted when the job ends.
Is this the right tool?
Good for
- Bank and credit card statements that arrive locked with your date of birth or account number.
- A protected PDF you need to merge, compress, sign or number; most tools cannot change a locked file.
- Files a client sent with a password, once they have agreed to you keeping an unlocked copy.
Not the right tool for
- A PDF whose password you do not have. Ask the sender for the password or an unprotected copy.Guide: PDF password protection
- Changing a password. Remove the old one here, then set the new one.Protect PDF
- A file that will not open because it is damaged, not because it is locked.Repair PDF
How to unlock a PDF
Choose your PDF
Select the locked PDF, up to 30 MB. Your browser checks its protection and tells you what it needs.
Enter the password
Type or paste it under PDF password. Passwords are case-sensitive; Show password lets you see what you typed.
Unlock
Select Unlock PDF, or Remove restrictions if the file opens without a password but limits printing or copying.
Download or continue
Select Download unlocked PDF. Under Continue with this PDF, Merge, Compress, Organize pages and Convert to Word open the next tool with the unlocked copy already loaded.
Worked example
A year of locked bank statements
Say your bank emails a monthly statement as a PDF locked with the last four digits of your account number. At tax time you want all twelve in one file for your accountant, but a merge tool cannot read locked files.
Open January's statement, type the password the bank told you to use, and select Unlock PDF. Download the copy and repeat for the other months; the tool takes one file at a time.
Merge the twelve unlocked copies, and keep them somewhere private; they now open for anyone who has the file.
Tips for a better result
- If the password is refused, look for Caps Lock and for a stray space pasted at the start or end.
- Banks and employers usually explain the password format in the email the PDF arrived with.
- When you have finished working on an unlocked copy, you can lock the final version again with Protect PDF.
Unlock PDF: questions and answers
How do I stop a PDF asking for a password every time I open it?
Open it in Unlock PDF, enter the password once, and download the copy. That copy has no password, so it opens directly. The locked file you started with is not changed.
Which password do I need: the one that opens the file, or the owner password?
Either works. The opening password, sometimes called the user password, is the one you type to read the document. The owner password is a second one, set by whoever protected the file to control printing and editing.
Why can I open my PDF but not print or copy from it?
The file has permission restrictions without an opening password: whoever created it asked PDF readers to block those actions. If the document is yours, or its owner has agreed, select Remove restrictions here to save a copy without the limits.
When is it OK to remove a password from a PDF?
When the document is yours, or its owner has given you the password and agreed to you keeping an unprotected copy, as with your own statements and pay stubs. Do not remove protection from material you have no right to change, such as a purchased e-book or another person's confidential file.