Loading the workspace
Password protect a PDF
Protect PDF encrypts a document so it cannot be opened without the password you set. Anyone who opens it afterwards is prompted before a single page is shown.
Encryption is done with qpdf on the server. The file and the password are used for that one request and then discarded, and the password reaches qpdf through a file rather than the command line, so it never appears in the process list.
Runs on the server. Files up to 50 MB are processed and deleted in the same request.
How to password protect a PDF
Add your PDFs
Drop in one file or several, up to 50 MB each.
Set a password
Type it twice, so a typo cannot lock you out of your own document.
Protect and download
The encrypted file downloads as soon as the job finishes.
Questions
- What happens if I forget the password?
- Nothing can be done. Neither the password nor the file is kept, so there is no copy to recover and no reset. Store it somewhere safe before you close the tab.
- Do you store the password?
- No. It is used for the single request that encrypts your file and then discarded.
- What encryption is used?
- AES-256, via qpdf. Current PDF readers all support it.
- Can I remove the password later?
- Yes, with Unlock PDF, as long as you still know it.