Unlock PDF with Password

How unlocking works

A password-protected PDF is encrypted: its pages and document properties can only be read with the key that the password unlocks. When you type the password, the tool decrypts the file in your browser with pdf-lib, a JavaScript PDF library, and saves a copy without encryption. Before the download is offered, the copy is opened again to check that every page is there and that the page content was decrypted correctly. The file and the password are not uploaded.

Only the protection is removed. Text, images, links, bookmarks, form fields and document properties stay as they were. A digital signature in the file is no longer valid in the unlocked copy, because the file has been rewritten.

No password guessing

This tool does not guess, recover or crack passwords. You need the password the file was protected with. If you have forgotten it, ask the person or organisation that sent the file.

Many issuers explain their password format. UIDAI's FAQ, checked in October 2026, says the e-Aadhaar password is the first four letters of your name in capital letters followed by your year of birth. Banks, fund houses and tax portals usually describe their format in the email that came with the statement.

Files that only restrict printing or editing

Some PDFs open without a password but carry owner restrictions that stop printing, copying or editing in PDF readers that respect them. Such a file is encrypted with an empty open password, so every PDF reader can decrypt it; the restrictions are flags that readers are asked to follow. That is why the tool can remove them without the owner password, after you confirm that you may.

Only do this for files you own or are entitled to edit, such as your own documents. Removing restrictions from a document someone else shared with you may go against the terms under which it was shared.

Which protection is supported

The tool removes standard PDF password protection: RC4 (40 and 128-bit), AES-128 and AES-256, including the older AES-256 method from Acrobat 9. It cannot open:

• PDFs protected with a certificate (a digital ID) instead of a password;
• PDFs protected by rights-management servers, which check permissions online;
• rare variants that encrypt text and page content, or only the attachments, with different settings. These are refused with an explanation instead of producing a broken copy.

Keep the copy safe

The unlocked copy opens for anyone who gets it. Store it where only you can reach it, and protect it again with Protect PDF before you send it on, if it holds personal or financial details.