Unlock a PDF
Remove the password from a document you are entitled to open.
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Select a PDF file
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Accepted formats: PDF
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Quick facts
- What it does
- Removes the password from a PDF by decrypting it with the password you supply, and returns an unencrypted copy.
- Input
- Output
- Processing
- On our server
- Files uploaded?
- Yes, temporarily
- Account required?
- No
- Best for
- A file you own and can open, where re-typing the password every time has become the problem.
- Main limitation
- It needs the password. This decrypts a document you can already open; it does not break, guess or recover anything, and a file whose password you do not have stays closed.
How to use this tool
- Choose the protected PDF.
- Type the password that currently opens it.
- Press Apply. The file is decrypted on our server over an encrypted connection.
- Download the unlocked PDF, which now opens without a password.
Why use iBuildPDF
The line this tool does not cross is worth stating plainly: it removes a password you know, from a file you can already open. It is not a recovery tool and it will not become one — a service that claimed otherwise would either be lying or be attacking documents on somebody's behalf. If you cannot open the file today, this cannot help you open it.
How it works
The password you supply is used to decrypt the document's streams, and the result is written out without encryption. The password is used for that one operation and then discarded; it is never stored and never logged.
Frequently asked questions
I do not know the password. Can you still open it?
No, and deliberately so. Without the password the file's contents are unreadable data rather than a document with a lock on it. Nothing here attempts to guess or break it.
The PDF opens fine but will not let me print or copy.
That is a permissions password rather than an open password. Most readers honour those restrictions only by convention, which is why they are weaker than they look. If you own the document, decrypting and re-saving it through this tool usually clears them along with the encryption.
Is it legal to do this?
For your own documents, or ones you have permission to change, yes. This tool only works when you already hold the password, which keeps that question on the right side of the line.
What do you do with the password I type?
It is used to decrypt the file and then discarded with the request. It is never written to storage or to a log, and never appears in an error message.
Is the document itself changed in any way?
No. The pages, text, images, form fields and bookmarks are all the same. The only difference is that the file is no longer encrypted, so it opens without being asked for anything.
Read more about this
Continue with your PDF
Your file is ready. These are the things people usually do next.