What does this tool do?
It takes a password-protected PDF that you can already open — you know the password — and saves a copy with the protection removed. The unlocked file opens instantly for anyone, with no password prompt, and any print or copy restrictions attached to the encryption disappear with it.
How to unlock a PDF
- Add the locked PDF using the upload box.
- Enter the password you normally use to open it.
- Click unlock. The tool decrypts the file, rebuilds it without encryption, and offers the download.
If the password is wrong you'll be told immediately, and if the file wasn't actually protected the tool says so rather than pretending to do work.
Why remove a password you already know?
Because typing it constantly gets old. Bank statements arrive locked to your ID number and demand it at every open. Payslips and insurance documents come with per-document passwords that fail every search and preview tool. Locked files can't be merged, split, watermarked or stamped by most PDF tools — including the other tools on this site — until the encryption is removed. Unlocking your own archive copies makes them searchable, previewable and processable again.
What this tool is not
It's not a password cracker. Decryption requires the correct password — without it, the contents stay mathematically scrambled, which is precisely what makes PDF encryption trustworthy in the first place. If you've genuinely lost a password, no browser tool can help; only the person or institution that issued the file can.
Decrypted on your device
The file and the password are processed by JavaScript in your browser tab. Neither is transmitted anywhere — worth pausing on, because the documents people unlock most are bank statements, payslips and IDs, and typing those passwords into someone's server is exactly what you shouldn't do. Here the decrypted copy is assembled locally and handed straight to your Downloads folder.
Tips
- Keep the locked original if the sender expects the protection to stay on their copy.
- After unlocking, the file works with every other tool here — merge, split, number or watermark it freely.