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How to Remove a Password From a PDF File
Some PDFs are encrypted with a password, which youll need to enter each time you want to view the document. You can remove the password to save yourself some inconvenience if youre keeping the PDF in a secure location.
Well cover two ways to do this here: A convenient trick that works in all operating systems with applications you already have, and the official method that requires Adobe Acrobat. Both methods assume you know the password to the encrypted PDF file. Unfortunately, theres no easy way to remove a password if you dont know it.
A Convenient Trick: Print to PDF
RELATED:How to Print to PDF on Any Computer, Smartphone, or Tablet
This may seem a little silly, but you can easily and conveniently remove the password from a PDF file by opening it and printing it to a new PDF. Your system will create a duplicate copy of the PDF, and that duplicate copy wont have a password.
This trick will only work if the PDF doesnt have any printing restrictions. However, many PDF files are just password-protected to provide encryption and can be printed normally once you provide the password.
You can do this in a few ways. If you use Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux, or Chrome OS, you can do it right through your browser. First, open the PDF document and provide the password it requires. Click the Print button on the PDF toolbar while viewing the password-protected document.
Click the Change button under Destination and select Save as PDF. Click the Save button and youll be prompted to provide a name and location for your new PDF. Your new PDF will contain the same content as the original PDF, but wont be password-protected.
This method will work in Chrome on any operating system, but you can perform the same trick with other applications and PDF printers. For example, Windows 10 includes a PDF printer, which means you can do this in Microsoft Edge or any other PDF viewer on Windows.
For example, open a protected PDF document in Microsoft Edge and provide the password to view it. Click the Print button on the PDF viewer toolbar after you have.
Select the Microsoft Print to PDF printer and click Print. Youll be prompted to choose a name and location for your new PDF file.
You can do this trick in any PDF viewer on Windows Just select the Microsoft Print to PDF printer. On older versions of Windows, youll need to install a third-party PDF printer before you can perform this trick (or just use Chrome).
This method also works in other operating systems. For example, on a Mac, you can do this with Preview, or any other PDF viewer and the built-in PDF printing feature.
First, open the protected document in Preview and provide the password it requires. Click File > Print to open the print dialog.
Click the PDF menu button at the bottom of the print dialog and select Save as PDF. Enter a file name and location for your new PDF file when prompted. The new PDF file will have the same contents as the original, but no password.
Note: Due to the printing process, the resulting PDF wont have selectable text. if you need to copy text from the PDF, you must re-open the original password-protected PDF and copy text from there. You could also use optical character recognition (OCR) software on the unprotected PDF.
The Official Method: Use Adobe Acrobat Pro
You can also do this the official way with Adobe Acrobat Pro, a paid application. This is a different program from the free Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF viewer that most people have. Adobe offers a week-long free trial of Acrobat Pro. Adobe Acrobat Pro will work even if the PDF has printing restrictions, and cant be printed in other applications using the above trick.
Open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro and provide its password to view it. Click the lock icon at the left side of the window and click Permission Details. You can also click File > Properties and click the Security tab.
Click the Security Method box, select No Security, and click OK to remove the password.
Click File > Save to save your changes. You can also just close the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC window and youll be prompted to save your changes. Once you have, the password will be removed from the original PDF file.
Chris Hoffman is Editor in Chief of How-To Geek. He's written about technology for nearly a decade and was a PCWorld columnist for two years. Chris has written for The New York Times, been interviewed as a technology expert on TV stations like Miami's NBC 6, and had his work covered by news outlets like the BBC. Since , Chris has written over 2, articles that have been read more than million timesand that's just here at How-To Geek.
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