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Save Article Icon A bookmarkIf you have a PDF that contains private, confidential, or proprietary information, the creator might have tried to safeguard the document by adding a password. You'll need to enter that password every time you open the doc, which is usually not a big deal unless you find yourself doing that frequently. If you can keep the document safe and secure, you might want to remove the password from the PDF file instead.
There are a couple of simple ways to remove the password from a PDF. While one method relies on you owning a subscription to Adobe Acrobat Pro — a commercial program that you must purchase or subscribe to — there's another method that works no matter what software you have.
Important: You need to know the password to remove it from a PDF. If you don't know the password, there's no practical way to open the file or remove the password.
AdvertisementIf you own a copy of Adobe Acrobat Pro (or have a subscription to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC) then it's easy to change the settings of a PDF file, removing the password in the process.
1. Open the password-protected PDF in Adobe Acrobat. Enter the password when directed.
2. Click File in the menu bar, then choose Properties.
3. In the Document Properties window, click the Security tab.
4. In the Document Security section, click the drop-down menu for Security Method. Choose No Security.
5. Confirm you want to remove the security from the document by clicking OK.
6. Click OK to close the Document Properties window.
7. Click File and then Save.
AdvertisementIf you don't have access to Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can still easily remove the password. The only downside of this process is that you'll lose access to some special features of your PDF, such as the ability to select and manipulate the text in the document. Instead, all the text will be rendered like a photocopy, so you can't select or edit it.
1. Open the password-protected PDF in any program that can open PDFs, such as your web browser, preview app, or Microsoft Word. The exact steps after this vary slightly depending on which program you use, but they are all fairly similar.
2. Click Print or click the Print icon.
3. In the Print Preview or Print settings window, choose the printer. One of the options should be PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF. Choose this option.
4. Click Print. You will need to choose the destination to save the PDF file.
The new PDF file will be a duplicate of the original but will not include the password protection.
Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.
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