Remove passwords from PDF files you already own without sending them to a server. Unlock reports, contracts and scanned documents directly on your device so you can share or archive them more easily.
Choose a PDF that currently requires a password to open. Enter that password once so you can create an unlocked copy for everyday use.
Or drag and drop your protected PDF into this box.
Your unlocked PDF will download instantly after processing.
Modern PDFs make it easy to protect private content with a password. This is a good thing. It keeps financial reports, contracts, medical documents and internal notes safer when they travel across inboxes and devices. Yet there is another side to that protection. After a few months, a long password can slow down your own work more than it stops anyone else.
You might need to open a file many times per day, or on a tablet during meetings, or on a shared computer in a print shop. If the document is part of a larger archive that sits behind access controls anyway, requiring a password for each individual file can feel redundant. In those cases, creating a clean unlocked copy is a practical solution that respects the original security while bringing back convenience.
When you add a locked PDF and type its correct password, the Unlock PDF tool uses the QPDF engine to open the encrypted structure of the file. Instead of sending the bits to a remote server, the logic runs as WebAssembly and JavaScript code inside your browser. The tool decrypts the content and then writes a new version of the PDF that no longer requires a password to open.
The layout does not change. Fonts stay embedded, images keep their resolution and the order of pages remains the same. Links, bookmarks and table of contents entries are preserved wherever possible. From your point of view, the new document should feel almost identical to the original, just without the extra prompt for a password each time you open it.
There is an important distinction between managing your own documents and trying to break someone else's security. This tool is designed for people who already have the password for the file they are unlocking. For example, you might be the author, the original recipient, or part of the team that maintains the documents. In that scenario, removing the password from a working copy is simply another way of tuning your internal workflow.
On the other hand, if you receive a PDF that is locked and you do not know the password, trying to bypass that protection would usually go against the intentions of the sender or the owner. The Unlock PDF page is not built for that. It respects the boundaries set by the standard. You still need the password at least once to unlock the file.
In a finance department, quarterly reports may be distributed as password protected PDFs to a small group of managers. Once the quarter is complete and the numbers are approved, the same reports might go into a secure archive that sits behind company access controls. At that stage, repeatedly entering the password for each document no longer provides much additional value, and an unlocked copy becomes more practical.
Legal teams often manage long case files that pass through several states, from draft to negotiation to signed copy and finally to archive. A password protected version may be vital during early sharing with clients. Later, an internal version that opens without friction can support quick searches and reference checks. The Unlock PDF tool helps with that shift from external distribution to internal reference.
Individual users face similar patterns. Students might receive exam results or study material in a locked format but wish to keep everything in a personal folder that already sits behind the password of a device or cloud account. Freelancers might want to merge several protected invoices into a single summary by first unlocking them with this tool and then turning to Merge PDF.
Unlocking is often one of several steps you perform on a document. You may start with a password protected file, remove the access gate here on the Unlock PDF page, then move directly into another tool that prepares the file for its next role. For example:
When deeper editing is needed, the unlocked file can move into PDF to Word, where it becomes an editable DOCX document for layout and text changes in a word processor. After those edits are complete, you can convert the result back to PDF and protect it again if the situation calls for it.
Many users feel uneasy about sending sensitive PDFs to a service they do not control. Even when a site promises to delete files after a number of hours, there is always a small uncertainty about what happens under the surface. Local processing reduces that uncertainty. Here, the unlocking logic travels to your browser as code, not the other way around. Your PDFs stay inside the security envelope of your own device and network.
This approach fits well with stricter internal policies in organisations that limit how confidential documents can be handled. If a rule states that certain files must never leave the company network, a browser based unlock that does not upload anything can become an important piece of the compliance puzzle.
Once a copy of a document is unlocked, it behaves like any other PDF. That means it is easier to open and to share, but also that anyone who receives it can forward it without barriers. Good practice is to think of unlocking as something you do for copies that will either remain in controlled archives or move between trusted people.
When you need to send a document outside of that circle, consider whether it should travel in a protected format instead. The Protect PDF tool gives you a straightforward way to bring a password back into the picture, and to combine it with permission settings that affect printing, copying and editing.
No. This tool expects that you already know the correct password and simply wish to remove it from a copy. It is not a password recovery or cracking service, and it cannot guess or reveal unknown passwords.
Some PDFs use protection features or structures that differ from common patterns. In those rare cases, the tool may not be able to produce an unlocked copy even when the password seems correct. You can still open the original file in your usual reader with that password.
There is no artificial limit in the tool itself. The practical ceiling is defined by the memory and processing power of your device. Most everyday reports, scanned documents and case files unlock without difficulty on current computers and phones.