· 6 years ago · May 10, 2019, 02:18 PM
1https://www.fiverr.com/dancreate12/make-pdfs-editable-and-copyable
2
3Make PDFs Editable and Copyable
4
5
6
7
8Tags:
9NEW
10
11Search on Super User…
12
13Log In Sign Up
14Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. Join them; it only takes a minute:
15Sign up
16Here's how it works:
17Anybody can ask a question
18Anybody can answer
19The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
20Super User
21Home
22Questions
23Tags
24Users
25Unanswered
26How to remove security from a PDF file?
27Ask Question
28
2966
30
31
3226
33I am trying to fill out some docs, but the provided PDFs are "SECURED", meaning I can't use FoxIt's typewriter tools.
34
35Is there any way to remove the security?
36
37security pdf
38shareimprove this question
39asked Aug 22 '10 at 16:52
40
41AngryHacker
427,45852123179
431
44gallery.technet.microsoft.com/PDF-Unlocker-Ease-Up-The-e904178f – Sathyajith Bhat♦ Feb 6 '13 at 7:58
451
46What I understand is that these pdfs are signed - in acrobat all you need to do is remove the signature and then they will be editable (as it would be invalid after editing). Suppose foxit will have a similar feature. – bdecaf Sep 18 '13 at 9:48
471
48For Linux users, Thebozo Already answered this question here: superuser.com/a/367356/278746 – Hello World Aug 10 '14 at 13:48
49add a comment
5011 Answers
51active oldest votes
52
5330
54
55Contrary to the other solutions, you do not need additional software.
56
57Anyone with Windows can do it with no extra software in 4 simple steps.
58
59Open the PDF
60Go to File > Print. From your print options choose Microsoft XPS Document Writer. Although you might expect it to print, it does not print anything, it will create an XPS Document.
61Open the resulting XPS file
62Press Print, go to Microsoft PDF Creator. It will now save it as a PDF again. Again, it will not print.
63In my case I had to remove the first/last page of a document so I only printed the pages required.
64
65shareimprove this answer
66edited Feb 8 '18 at 17:16
67answered Nov 10 '15 at 12:05
68
69Eoin
7045549
711
72I love this idea and worked for me. Only issue was the quality change in conversion to XPS and back to PDF. It would be just specific to my document, though. – fatih_dur Aug 24 '16 at 13:16
73Interesting, I have also found the MS PDF creator to be a bit pants. I use the Adobe PDF creator, although I believe it came with Adobe Creative Suite so not everyone will have a copy (could be wrong). – Eoin Aug 24 '16 at 13:36
742
75This approach worked for me, by opening it in Chrome, printing, choosing 'Print to PDF' and then opening the outputted PDF. – jonathanconway Aug 31 '16 at 3:17
764
77The major downside of this is that you cannot mark or copy text anymore. – basseur May 8 '18 at 9:49
781
79nice and simple. – Bilgin Kılıç Dec 26 '18 at 6:55
80show 3 more comments
81
8262
83
84Assuming it's simply a 'rights' (owner) password that restricts things like editing, printing, and copying (i.e. the password does not need to be entered to open the file) the following will remove the restrictions:
85
86Grab https://github.com/qpdf/qpdf/releases
87Unzip/Install and navigate to the bin folder that holds qpdf.exe (or similar for your platform)
88Place the PDF you wish to work on in the same folder
89Run: qpdf --decrypt InputFile.pdf OutputFile.pdf (use "s if the file name has spaces).
90Do what you like with the OutputFile.
91If your PDF file is user password protected, change step 4 to qpdf --decrypt --password=yourpassword InputFile OutputFile
92
93This won't work for Adobe Digital Editions and may have issues with digitally-signed files.
94
95Some discussion on the background of these owner password restrictions at https://lwn.net/Articles/335415/ .
96
97shareimprove this answer
98edited Apr 11 '18 at 2:28
99
100Rex Pan
1011031
102answered Apr 18 '13 at 21:42
103
104Dan
1057481610
1061
107qpdf work well for me. I can install it in OS X using homebrew. – Donny Kurnia Oct 6 '15 at 15:15
108I had to use qpdf then PDFcreator to enable edits on one PDF document. (PDFcreator without qpdf first wouldn't work). It was a document both password-protected and certified. Using the save as .ps trick didn't work. (I couldn't compare against unlock PDF websites as the document was confidential.) – Franck Dernoncourt Jan 11 '17 at 17:57
109Works fantastic on government-issued W-9 form. Genius bureaucrats locked down the PDF so you can't apply a signature through Foxit, but this fixes it! – HerrimanCoder Nov 30 '17 at 0:00
110Worked like a charm on some PDFs that are licensed CC but for some reason then secured. Now I can annotate! – Luis AntolÃn Cano May 3 '18 at 17:08
111add a comment
112
11334
114
115Print to a PostScript (PS) printer (where the printer's port is set to print to file, not to the printer -- or check the "Print to file" option in the Print dialog)
116Edit the resulting .ps file and remove:
117mark currentfile eexec
11854dc5232e897cbaaa7584b7da7c23a6c59e7451851159cdbf40334cc2600
119...
120cleartomark
121Save and distill the .ps file
122shareimprove this answer
123answered May 16 '12 at 18:16
124
125vladr
126439144
127Works for me. I have scripted it here: andorian.blogspot.ie/2014/05/… – Lmwangi May 19 '14 at 15:37
128I've used this trick before, but now I don't remember how I managed to convert to .ps. :( – Isaac Kleinman Oct 28 '14 at 21:16
129mark currentfile eexec 54dc5232e897cbaaa7584b7da7c23a6c59e7451851159cdbf40334cc2600-These are not present in a pdf version 1.3 (Acrobat 4.x) digitally signed file. It was decrypted with qpdf. But the sign is still there and prevents editing. – Joel G Mathew Oct 15 '17 at 2:19
130add a comment
131
13211
133
134Easy!
135
136From the full version of Acrobat (I used v9.3), select "File..Export..Postscript..Postscript". This creates a ".ps" file.
137Click on the .ps file, it converts it back to pdf automatically with Acrobat distiller.
138You now have a perfect copy of the original file, minus any signatures, restrictions on editing, etc.
139I needed this technique fix the pdf file so it would display on my Kindle DX, via the "Advanced..Preflight" menu. This method worked perfectly on a file that had resisted all attempts by the four major utilities that offer to remove restrictions on pdf files (i.e. A-PDF, pdftk, Kernel PDF, UnrestrictPDF) .
140
141shareimprove this answer
142answered Sep 3 '10 at 8:55
143
144Contango
14581451336
1465
147Nope, this didn't work for me... Got this error: This PostScript file was created from an encrypted PDF file. Redistilling encrypted PDF is not permitted. Looks like they caught up with this trick. – Jon Apr 27 '12 at 13:03
1487
149This site unlocked a PDF for me. pdfunlock.com – Jon Apr 27 '12 at 13:10
150By full version of Acrobat do you mean the paid version? – Eoin Jun 20 '18 at 21:58
151add a comment
152
1538
154
155Directly (see and) remove the restrictions from your pdf without any tricks:
156
1571- Online method:
158
159If you want to do in your browser (without installing a tool), then use PDFUnlock. You just need to upload your pdf (drop it to the available box) and it removes the security restrictions. However, up to 5MB files are converted for free.
160
1612- Offline method:
162
163But, like me, if you prefer having an offline tool on your machine, then you can install Weeny Free PDF Password Remover.
164
165shareimprove this answer
166edited Apr 23 at 19:00
167answered Nov 13 '15 at 23:26
168
169Alisa
17022927
171The PDFUlock website reported "The uploaded file is not secured and does not have any restrictions that can be removed" even though FoxIt reader declares my PDF "SECURED" and disables comments. – Jess Riedel Aug 24 '17 at 15:40
1722
173Weeny soft PDF Password remover tool worked great for me! I have tried 6 others before this: PDF Password Recovery, Instant PDF Remover, PDF Password Remover, GuaPDF, PDF Crack, the expensive Wondershare PDF Remover, which worked.. others did not. – Craig Lambie Dec 21 '17 at 3:45
174add a comment
175
1766
177
178Using google chrome offline (without uploading anything)
179
180It's a slightly old thread but as I use this often, I wanted to update it:
181
182Simply drag and drop the PDF in question on a blank chrome page.
183Chrome opens the "locked" PDF.
184Now print the document and use "save as PDF" as the printer of choice.
185Enjoy your perfectly conserved and unlocked PDF (esp. copy & paste ;-) )
186The "print"->"save as" step can be tricky when you do it the first time, as you might choose the PDF Writer/Maker for output and you will end up with a locked PDF again.
187
188The process is further described here: Save As PDF
189
190On some versions of chrome (older?) you have to activate the "save as PDF" option first.
191
192As you can install chrome without giving them your email address, I would consider this a truly "free" solution.
193
194shareimprove this answer
195edited Feb 4 '18 at 8:28
196
197aparente001
198246320
199answered Jul 25 '17 at 16:04
200
201Xan-Kun Clark-Davis
20234748
203Doesn't work any more. – chrisdrobison Mar 24 '18 at 23:04
204add a comment
205
2064
207
208I upload it to google drive with chrome, hit the print button and save it as pdf (which has to be enabled within chrome settings on some versions). I get the real deal, images are same resolution, file size checks out too, but all the security restrictions are gone.
209
210Thanks Google! You guys are hackers :-)
211
212shareimprove this answer
213answered Jul 25 '16 at 14:50
214
215Xan-Kun Clark-Davis
21634748
217Why is this downvoted? – Eoin Aug 24 '16 at 13:37
2181
219Yeah, I would also be very interested. As a matter of fact, I had some tricky PDFs with images and vectorgraphics and I tried all "free" solutions (most of them aren't really free, it's mostrly trials and crippleware) and none of them worked. Maybe the purely commercial ones are so much better (don't forget, the Microsoft XPS Document Writer is the contrary of free and you better habe a valid MS License whe you export it, as it will be in your resulting PDF, along with your name and other "useful" stuff.) Then I tried the google way and it worked like a charm for all PDFs so far. – Xan-Kun Clark-Davis Sep 1 '16 at 22:00
220add a comment
221
2224
223
224The best option I have found is this online tool: https://smallpdf.com/unlock-pdf
225
226Edit: they now have a desktop application too. https://smallpdf.com/desktop
227
228shareimprove this answer
229edited Sep 3 '18 at 5:08
230answered Sep 4 '17 at 9:37
231
232Sнаđошƒаӽ
233256214
234Thank you, that was the only thing that worked for me. Many other solutions rely on being able to print the PDF, but some protected PDFs can't be printed. – Oleksiy Apr 2 '18 at 7:07
235Glad it helped. Grateful to the guys who made that tool too :-) – Sнаđошƒаӽ Apr 2 '18 at 9:09
236add a comment
237
2382
239
240Analog conversion. Print and re-scan.
241
242shareimprove this answer
243answered Aug 22 '10 at 18:04
244
245easyegoism
246891
247Hmmmm ... even if you wanted to go that way, isn't it easier to just "Print to PDF" from the full version of Acrobat? However, this ruins the margins, so you get a perfect conversion if you export to Postscript, then reimport to pdf (see my answer below)? – Contango Sep 3 '10 at 8:58
248@gravitas That's only easier if you've paid for the full version of Acrobat, as the questioner is talking about FoxIt I'd assume they haven't got Acrobat Pro. – GAThrawn Sep 3 '10 at 12:07
249add a comment
250
2512
252
253Removing user/open password is next to impossible, but if your PDF file is only protected with owner password, i.e., PDF print, edit, copy and other functions are disabled then there are several programs available to remove PDF security like the one mentioned in this article: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Remove-PDF-Password-Security-PrintEditCo/
254
255Due to security and privacy reasons I would not recommend those online services where you’re supposed to upload your PDF documents to remove PDF security.
256
257shareimprove this answer
258answered Sep 25 '13 at 7:55
259
260Andrew Sarris
261304
262add a comment
263
2641
265
266In my case, there was a view password that maintained its state through save -- but print, etc. were not blocked. That left open the analog method, or print-to-PDF-printer, which is what I did. The resulting file lacked a password, and seemed to suffer no degradation.
267
268shareimprove this answer
269edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17
270
271Community♦
2721
273answered Mar 4 '14 at 17:27
274
275Michael Paulukonis
2761,31421319
277add a comment
278protected by nhinkle♦ Jul 24 '11 at 19:50
279
280Thank you for your interest in this question. Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
281
282Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?
283
284Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged security pdf or ask your own question.
285
286asked
287
2888 years, 8 months ago
289
290viewed
291
292273,307 times
293
294active
295
29616 days ago
297
298Featured on Meta
299Unicorn Meta Zoo #2: What is the role of moderators?
300Linked
301
30231
303Removing PDF usage restrictions
30432
305How do I remove a usage restriction from a PDF file?
3060
307PDF w/Security - Removing “mark currentfile eexec†trick isn't working when I distill
308Related
309
3100
311Should this PDF form file be fillable?
3124
313How to remove PDF bookmarks (from terminal or programatically)?
31441
315How to remove a watermark from a PDF file?
3160
317Remove all user from security group
3180
319Windows PDF printer driver with commenting enabled
3201
321IE10 does not open .pdf
32232
323How do I remove a usage restriction from a PDF file?
3241
325Removing pages from PDF doesn't reduce size
3260
327How can I fill in a PDF (not a PDF form) such that each character is in a box
3281
329Remove all surrounding margins in a pdf
330Hot Network Questions
331
332Thesis' "Future Work" section – is it acceptable to omit personal involvement in a mentioned project?
333Is there a need for better software for writers?
334Ex-manager wants to stay in touch, I don't want to
335Is it nonsense to say B -> [A -> B]?
336Are there variations of the regular runtimes of the Big-O-Notation?
337Why was wildfire not used during the Battle of Winterfell?
338Composite Factor Soup
339How to draw individual mesh lines in ArrayPlot
340Does Lawful Interception of 4G / the proposed 5G provide a back door for hackers as well?
341Why does "decimal.TryParse()" always return 0 for the input string "-1" in the below code?
342Why was the ancient one so hesitant to teach Dr Strange the art of sorcery
343What food production methods would allow a metropolis like New York to become self sufficient
344Which algorithm (Vincenty or Haversine) is used to calculate distance in GeoTools?
345Why use steam instead of just hot air?
346Names of the Six Tastes
347Examples where existence is harder than evaluation
348On studying Computer Science vs. Software Engineering to become a proficient coder
349What is the name of meteoroids which hit Moon, Mars, or pretty much anything that isn’t the Earth?
350My perfect evil overlord plan... or is it?
351"A manifold with boundary has dimension at least 1" if it has a dimension and if it has nonempty boundary?
352Noob at soldering, can anyone explain why my circuit won't work?
353Can 'sudo apt-get remove [write]' destroy my Ubuntu?
354How can I avoid subordinates and coworkers leaving work until the last minute, then having no time for revisions?
355Is it a Munchausen Number?
356 question feed
357
358Smallpdf logo
359All Tools
360Compress
361Convert
362Merge
363Edit
364Sign
365Pricing
366Login
367FREE TRIAL
368Unlock PDF
369An easy-to-use online PDF password remover
370Choose File
371Drop PDF here
372Choose file
373FROM GOOGLE DRIVE
374FROM DROPBOX
375Instantly remove PDF password
376Instantly remove PDF password
377We can strip your password-protected PDF file of its security if no strong encryption exists. Your PDF will be unlocked and ready for download within seconds.
378Secure handling of your information
379Secure handling of your information
380When you upload a file it is transmitted using a secure connection. Your files are deleted one hour after processing. If we need a password from you, it will not be read or stored.
381On all your favorite platforms
382On all your favorite platforms
383Smallpdf.com is browser-based and works on all platforms. It doesn’t matter if you use Mac, Windows or Linux.
384Most PDFs can be unlocked!
385Most PDFs can be unlocked!
386Files with an owner password can be unlocked instantly. However, if the file is thoroughly encrypted, you can only unlock the file by providing the correct password.
387Easy PDF password removal online
388Easy PDF password removal online
389Just upload your file and the password will be removed from your PDF. You can receive the unlocked PDF by simply clicking download and you are good to go!
390Unlock your files in the cloud!
391Unlock your files in the cloud!
392All files are processed in the cloud and there is no need to download or install any software. Convenient right?
393
394How to remove password from PDF files:
395Drag and drop your document in the PDF Password Remover.
396Confirm that you have the right to the file and click 'Unlock PDF'.
397The decryption process should start right away.
398Modify your PDF further, or click 'Download' to save the unlocked PDF.
399Convert & Compress
400Compress PDF
401Reduce the size of your PDF without losing quality
402PDF Converter
403Convert Word, PowerPoint and Excel files to and from PDF
404Split & Merge
405Split PDF
406Extract pages from your PDF or save each page as a separate PDF
407Merge PDF
408Combine multiple PDFs into one unified document
409View & Edit
410Edit PDF
411Add text, shapes, images and freehand annotations to your PDF
412Delete PDF Pages
413Remove one or multiple pages from your PDF
414Rotate PDF
415Rotate one or all pages in your PDF
416PDF Reader
417Download our desktop PDF reader
418Convert from PDF
419PDF to Word
420Convert PDFs to editable Word documents
421PDF to Excel
422Convert PDFs to editable Excel spreadsheets
423PDF to PPT
424Convert PDFs to editable PowerPoint presentations
425PDF to JPG
426Extract images from your PDF or save each page as a separate image
427Convert to PDF
428Word to PDF
429Convert Word documents to PDF files
430Excel to PDF
431Convert Excel spreadsheets to PDF documents
432PPT to PDF
433Convert PowerPoint presentations to PDF documents
434JPG to PDF
435Transform JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, and TIFF images to PDF
436Sign & Security
437eSign PDF
438Create your signature, sign your PDF and request people to sign
439Unlock PDF
440Remove password, encryption, and permission from your PDF
441Protect PDF
442Add a password and encrypt your PDF file
443Pricing
444Desktop
445About
446Help
447Blog
448Developers
449Privacy and Terms
450© 2019 Smallpdf GmbH
451-
452Made with ♥ for the people of the internet.
453SEARCH
454Cloud Big Data AI IoT Cybersecurity More
455Newsletters Forums Resource Library Tech Pro Free Trial
456
457How do I circumvent PDF editing security?
458By Matthew Nawrocki in Windows and Office , in Printers on March 5, 2012, 2:59 AM PST
459Using a little-known trick, you can take almost any secured PDF and "unlock" it for further edits and optical character recognition.
460
461
462Playlist
4630:00
464AUTOPLAY: ON
465ShareFullscreen
466Some of us deal with a plethora of PDF documents. Perhaps we need to make various edits and comments to the documents, or maybe we need to convert the PDFs into a different format like a Word document. Unfortunately, depending on the sources from which we acquire our PDFs, some of the files may in fact be secured, meaning no edits or changes can be made to the document for content-integrity reasons.
467
468At this point, some engineers throw their hands up in dismay, knowing that they can't directly save the document to a different format. Fortunately, the grand majority of secured PDFs I have worked with in the past, like the ones from the IEEE consortium, can be unlocked using an incredibly easy "print to file" trick.
469
470Trick
471Granted, you won't be unlocking the file itself per se, but you can generate an unlocked equivalent that can be edited and manipulated to your heart's content. First, open the document that you wish to unlock in Adobe Acrobat Reader and click File and then Print. Next, in the printers list, select "Microsoft XPS Document Writer" and then click Print.
472
473If you try to use Adobe's PDF printer driver, it will detect that you are attempting to export a secured PDF to a fresh file and it will refuse to continue. Even third-party PDF print drivers tend to choke on such files. However, by using the XPS Document Writer, you effectively circumvent that check entirely, leaving yourself with an XPS output. Now, open the newly minted XPS file you have just created and simply repeat the printing process, only this time printing to PDF format.
474
475CutePDF Writer
476If you do not have a PDF printer to select in your list of printers, consider downloading and installing the freeware CutePDF Writer program or a program similar to it. This will allow you to set up a virtual printer that generates PDFs on the fly. It is also highly suggested that you have enough RAM installed on the PC for best results. Sometimes if these files are big enough, it can take a considerable amount of time to finalize the export and your system memory can be completely overtaken.
477
478For example, I had to convert a 500-page secured doc to XPS and then back to PDF again. During the export process, the amount of memory consumed reached into the gigabytes, which could result in using the swap file on your hard drive, thus slowing your machine down considerably.
479
480Disclosure
481In closing, there is one important disclosure: Not every secured PDF can be printed, depending on the level of security a file contains. This hack though has worked more times than not and is a considerable time-saver in the long run. If you have any better ideas for getting around PDF encryption, let me know in the comments section below.
482
483Also read:
484
485Foxit Reader for PDFs in the Enterprise
486Convert PDF Files to Other Editable Formats with This Tool
487Review: PDF Studio Document Editor
488EDITOR'S PICKS
489
490Straight up: How the Kentucky bourbon industry is going high tech
491
492Inside the Raspberry Pi: The story of the $35 computer that changed the world
493
494How self-driving tractors, AI, and precision agriculture will save us from the impending food crisis
495
496Smart farming: How IoT, robotics, and AI are tackling one of the biggest problems of the century
497
498Agriculture 4.0: How digital farming is revolutionizing the future of food
499
500Can Russian hackers be stopped? Here's why it might take 20 years
501Comment & share this story
502 Matthew Nawrocki
503By Matthew Nawrocki
504An avid technology writer and an IT guru, Matthew is here to help bring the best in software, hardware and the web to the collective consciousness of TechRepublic's readership. In addition to writing for TechRepublic, Matthew currently works as a Cus...
505 | Full Bio | See all content by Matthew
506PRINTERS HARDWARE INNOVATION PRINTERS ON ZDNET
507LOG IN TO COMMENT | Commenting FAQs | Community Guidelines
508Join Discussion
509
510ADD YOUR COMMENT
511EDITOR'S PICKS
512
513Straight up: How the Kentucky bourbon industry is going high tech
514
515Inside the Raspberry Pi: The story of the $35 computer that changed the world
516
517How self-driving tractors, AI, and precision agriculture will save us from the impending food crisis
518
519Smart farming: How IoT, robotics, and AI are tackling one of the biggest problems of the century
520LATEST FROM TECH PRO RESEARCH
521Feature comparison: Time tracking software and systems
522Putting Azure to work: Tips for IT pros
523Systems downtime expense calculator
524SQL injection attacks: What IT pros need to know
525SERVICES
526About Us
527Membership
528Newsletters
529RSS Feeds
530Site Map
531Site Help & Feedback
532FAQ
533Advertise
534Reprint Policy
535EXPLORE
536Blogs
537Downloads
538TechRepublic Forums
539Meet the Team
540TechRepublic Academy
541Tech Pro Research
542Resource Library
543Photos
544Videos
545© 2019 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Cookies | Ad Choice | Terms of Use | Mobile User Agreement
546A ZDNet site | Visit other CBS Interactive sites:
547
548MESSAGES
549LOG IN
550EXPLORE
551HELP US
552EDIT
553wikiHow logo
554
555to do anything...
556 Search
557Home» Categories » Computers and Electronics » Software » Adobe Software » Portable Document Format (PDF) » PDF Security
558ArticleEditDiscuss
559How to Unlock a Secure PDF File
560Co-authored by wikiHow Staff
561Updated: April 20, 2019
562Explore this Article
563Using Google Chrome
564Using Soda PDF for a User Password
565Using Adobe Acrobat for a User Password
566Article Summary
567Questions & Answers
568Related Articles
569This wikiHow teaches you how to view or print a password-protected PDF file's contents. There are two types of secure PDFs: user-locked, which means you need a password to view the contents, and owner-locked, which means you need a password to copy, print, or otherwise modify the PDF's contents. While unlocking a user-locked PDF without the password is impossible, you can unlock an owner-locked PDF for which you've forgotten the password from within Google Chrome. If you want to remove a known user password from a PDF, Google Chrome will also work, or you can use either Soda PDF or Adobe Acrobat Pro.
570Method
5711
572Using Google Chrome
573Image titled Unlock a Secure PDF File Step 1
5741
575Open Image titled Android7chrome.png Google Chrome. Google Chrome is the only browser in which you can use the "Print" feature to remove the owner password from your PDF.
576Image titled Unlock a Secure PDF File Step 2
5772
578Open Google Drive. Go to https://drive.google.com/drive/ in your computer's web browser. This will open your Google Drive page if you're logged into your Google account.
579If you aren't already logged into your Google account, you'll need to click Go to Drive and then enter your email address and password.
5803
581Click and drag your PDF into Google Drive. This will add the file to Google Drive.
582You can also click New in the top right corner of the Google Drive Window, click File Upload, select your PDF, and click OK to upload it.
5834
584Double-click the PDF in Google Drive. Doing this will open the PDF inside of Google Chrome.
585If your PDF is user-locked, you'll need to enter a password and click Submit to view its contents.
5865
587Open the "Print" screen. Once the PDF opens, press either Ctrl+P (Windows) or ⌘ Command+P (Mac). You should see a "Print" window pop up.
5886
589Click Change…. This option is beneath the "Destination" heading on the left side of Chrome. A menu will appear.
5907
591Click Save as PDF. This option is under the "Local Options" heading in the "Select a Destination" menu.
5928
593Click the blue Save button. It's in the top-left corner of the window. Doing so will download the PDF to your computer as an unsecure file; you should now be able to print, edit, and copy text from the PDF.
594You may have to select a save location before your file properly downloads.
595Method
5962
597Using Soda PDF for a User Password
5981
599Open the Soda PDF unlock site. Go to https://www.sodapdf.com/unlock-pdf/ in your computer's web browser.
6002
601Click CHOOSE FILE. It's a green button on the right side of the page. Doing so prompts a File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) window to open.
6023
603Select your PDF file. In the window that opens, go to the location in which your PDF is stored, then click the PDF once to select it.
6044
605Click Open. It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. Doing so uploads your selected PDF to Soda PDF.
6065
607Enter the user password. In the text box which appears, type in the password used to unlock the PDF.
608If you don't know the user password, you cannot unlock the PDF.
6096
610Click UNLOCK. This green button is below the password text box. Soda PDF will remove the encryption from the PDF.
6117
612Click VIEW & DOWNLOAD IN BROWSER. It's on the right side of the page. Doing so will prompt the unlocked PDF to download onto your computer, where you'll be able to open it without entering a password.
613Depending on your browser's settings, you may have to select a save location or confirm the download before the PDF will download.
614Method
6153
616Using Adobe Acrobat for a User Password
6171
618Open Adobe Acrobat Pro. This is the paid version of Adobe Acrobat; if you only have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you won't be able to unlock your PDF with this method.
6192
620Click File. This option is in the top-left corner of the window (or the screen on a Mac). Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu.
621Alternatively, if your PDF reader has a "Recently Viewed" tab, you can check there to see if the PDF you need is displayed.
6223
623Click Open. If you elected to look for the PDF in the "Recently Viewed" section, skip this step.
6244
625Double-click the PDF you wish to open. Doing so will prompt the PDF to open in Adobe Acrobat.
626You may have to select a new directory (e.g., Desktop or Documents) first to locate the PDF in question.
6275
628Enter the user password. Type in the password needed to unlock the PDF, then click OK.
629If you don't know the user password, you cannot unlock the PDF.
6306
631Click the padlock icon. It's on the left side of the screen beneath the "Home" tab.
6327
633Click Permission Details. This is a link below the "Security Settings" heading.
6348
635Click the Security Method box. It will say something like "Password Security".
6369
637Select No Security. This should be an option in the drop-down menu that appears.
63810
639Enter the password again. Type in the PDF's password, then click OK twice. As long as your password was correct, your PDF will no longer have a password lock on it.
640Community Q&A
641Question
642My files are loaded, so why can't I view them?
643Community Answer
644Try downloading them again. You may also have a virus on your computer which you need to check out.
645Not Helpful 34 Helpful 8
646Unanswered Questions
647When trying to download pdf files of a paper model aircraft to print that are supposed to be free, I get symbols and letters in lieu of images, as they are encrypted. How can I access them to print properly?
648Answer this question Flag as...
649All these options are totally useless if you were sent a pdf without the password?
650Answer this question Flag as...
651Why do I need several ways to unlock a file if I remember the password?
652Answer this question Flag as...
653When I use the Google Chrome method, it erases the bookmark information, and changes the page numbering features. Is there any way to get around these changes and preserve these desired features?
654Answer this question Flag as...
655What do I do if I could open my PDF file, but couldn't upload it because of an error that said "please make sure the PDF is not encrypted. PDF file uploaded is not compatible with application packets?"
656Answer this question Flag as...
657Show more unanswered questions
658Ask a Question
659
660What do you need to know? We'll do our best to find the answer.
661Submit
662Video
663
664Tips
665For any questions related to the Adobe Acrobat suite of software, use the Frequently Asked Questions page on Adobe's website.
666Warnings
667Attempting to unlock a PDF that doesn't belong to you could be illegal in certain jurisdictions.
668EditRelated wikiHows
669How to
670Digitally Sign PDF Documents
671How to
672Resize a PDF Using Messiah's Dysprosium
673How to
674Work With PDF Files
675How to
676Convert a PDF to a Word Document
677How to
678Create PDF Files
679How to
680Attach a File to a PDF Document
681How to
682Delete Items in PDF Documents With Adobe Acrobat
683How to
684Copy a Secured PDF on PC or Mac
685How to
686See a Password Protected PDF Using Gmail
687How to
688Publish a PDF with Password Encryption
689Article Info
690This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
691
692Categories: PDF Security
693
694In other languages:
695
696Italiano: Togliere la Protezione a un Documento PDF Protetto, Español: desbloquear un PDF protegido, Deutsch: Entsichern einer geschützten PDF Datei, Português: Desproteger um Arquivo PDF Protegido, РуÑÑкий: ÑнÑÑ‚ÑŒ защиту Ñ PDF файла, Français: déverrouiller un fichier PDF sécurisé, ä¸æ–‡: 解é”åŠ å¯†çš„PDF文件, Nederlands: De beperkingen van een beveiligd pdf bestand opheffen, Bahasa Indonesia: Membuka Kunci Berkas PDF yang Diproteksi, العربية: كسر شيÙرة مل٠PDF مؤمَّن, हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€: अन लॉक करें à¤à¤• सिकà¥à¤¯à¥‹à¤° पीडीà¤à¤« फाइल, ÄŒeÅ¡tina: Jak odemknout zabezpeÄený PDF soubor, Tiếng Việt: Mở khóa Táºp tin PDF Bảo máºt, ไทย: ปลดล็à¸à¸„ไฟล์ PDF ที่จำà¸à¸±à¸”à¸à¸²à¸£à¹ƒà¸Šà¹‰à¸‡à¸²à¸™, í•œêµì–´: PDF 파ì¼ì˜ ë³´ì•ˆì„ í•´ì œí•˜ëŠ” 법, 日本語: PDFã®ãƒ‘スワードを解除ã™ã‚‹
697
698PrintEditSend fan mail to authors
699Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 4,858,632 times.
700Is this article up to date?
701Yes No
702
703Co-Authored By:
704wikiHow Staff Editor
705How helpful is this?
706Co-authors: 42
707Updated: April 20, 2019
708Views: 4,858,632
709
710
711Related Articles
712
713How to
714Digitally Sign PDF Documents
715How to
716Resize a PDF Using Messiah's Dysprosium
717How to
718Work With PDF Files
719How to
720Convert a PDF to a Word Document
721Is this article up to date?
722 Yes No
723Home About wikiHow Jobs Terms of Use Site Map Mobile view
724
725 support@softspire.com
726
727SoftSpire Logo
728Product
729News & Events
730About Us
731Support
732Contact Us
733 SoftSpire Products PDF Security Removal
734PDF Security Removal Tool
735Remove Owner Password Security from Restricted PDF
736 Unrestrict PDF
737 How it Works ?
738 Screenshots
739 Video
740
741Remove PDF security to edit, copy, print & modify PDF files
742Preserve TOC (table of content) of Adobe PDF file
743Unlock PDF Owner Password security from locked PDF file
744Does not remove User Password security
745Adobe Acrobat reader is not required to use the software
746Support Adobe 11.0 and all below version of PDF file
747No technical skills required to operate the software
748Preserves data integrity of Adobe PDF files
749Software runs on any Windows version
750 FREE Download Now
751For Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista/XP
752 Buy Now at $19.00
753Order & get full-featured software
754Install & Uninstall Guide
755
756Windows 10 operative utility
757
758 Trusted by Millions
759 Money Back Guarantee
760
761 Features How It Works ? Screenshots Video Download FAQs
762Features of PDF Security Removal Software
763unlock PDF Security
764Remove Restriction from PDF File
765This tool is perfect for all those users who are waiting for a solution to unlock a locked PDF, i.e., the software remove all securities and restrictions from the Adobe PDF file so as to edit, copy, print and modify the PDF files.
766Unlock a locked PDF to remove copy restriction
767Remove Copy Restriction
768Software removes copy restriction from the restricted PDF file and enables users to copy PDF file text and content without any problem. After unrestricting the PDF file, a new PDF file will be created having copy permission.
769enable printing option
770Allows Printing PDF Text
771Most of the PDF files have the printing restriction option enabled, which does not allow users to print PDF file. But with the PDF Security Remover, users can easily unlock the PDF file from this restriction and print them.
772unrestrict PDF to allow editing on PDF
773Allows User to Edit PDF File
774PDF files are often restricted with editing protection to restrict PDF data from editing and modifying. Using this software, users can remove editing protection and easily make changes into the PDF file text.
775formatting of PDF files is maintained
776Maintains PDF Formatting
777While removing the securities from the PDF files, PDF Security Removal tool preserves all the formatting of PDF file (Images, background, color, font, hyperlinks, text formatting, subject, from, email address, etc).
778create new PDF
779Create New PDF File
780Software creates a fresh and new Adobe PDF file after unlocking PDF file from its securities so that the users can easily extract, copy, edit, print, modify, etc PDF data.
781remove PDF lock from all Adobe PDF files
782Support all Adobe Acrobat PDF Files
783Software supports Adobe Acrobat PDF 1.1 to Adobe PDF 1.5 files, including 40 bit EC4 decryption, 128-bit RC4 decryption. Also, it will unrestrict all the PDF files created by Adobe PDF reader 11.0 or below versions.
784Unlock Adobe security
785Adobe Reader Installation Not Needed
786Adobe Acrobat reader installation is not required to remove PDF restriction, but to open Adobe PDF file after its security removal; Adobe PDF reader has to be installed on machine otherwise users could not be able to open & view the PDF file.
787Use PDF Security Remover on all Windows OS
788Workable on Windows OS
789Users can use PDF Restriction Remover software on any Windows operating system based machine – Win 97, Win 98, Win XP, Vista, Win 7, Win 8, Win 8.1, etc, and the current Windows 10 edition too.
790unlock PDF security in easy steps
791Easy and simple GUI
792Software has very simple graphical interface, no technical skill is required to use this software. Within few seconds user can remove all type of owner restriction from restricted PDF file.
793Opinion shared about PDF Security Removal Tool
794For me, there could not have been any another solution other than SoftSpire PDF Security Removal Tool. Thanks a lot for developing such a great tool!
795
796-Cooper, Pheonix
797
798Provides me direct solution to remove PDF Restriction, I am thankful to SoftSpire, I contentedly recommend it to anybody.
799
800Jack, Manhattan
801
802Removing PDF restriction is quite a headache, but when I used SoftSpire PDF Security Removal tool, I was quite impressed.
803
804— Paris, Copenhegen
805
806With this tool I was able to unlock PDF restriction and easily copied PDF text.
807
808— Naveen, India
809
810Copyright © 2009-2019 SoftSpire | All Rights Reserved.
811
812EULA | HTML | XML