How to Remove a Password from a PDF Free (Unlock PDF)

You protected a PDF with a password years ago and now you want to remove it. Or a client sent you a PDF with a permissions restriction that prevents you from printing. This guide covers every legal way to remove a PDF password — assuming you own or have authorized access to the document.

Understanding What Kind of Password Your PDF Has

Before choosing a method, determine what type of protection is on the PDF:

• Open password (user password): You cannot open the file at all without the correct password. To remove this, you must know the password — there's no workaround for a well-encrypted file using a strong password.
• Permissions password (owner password): The file opens freely, but printing, copying, and editing may be restricted. These restrictions can be stripped without the password using pdftk, Ghostscript, and other tools — the PDF spec stores them in a way that's not protected by open encryption.

Method 1: Google Chrome or Firefox (Fastest — No Software)

This is the simplest method for any PDF where you already know the password:

1. Open Chrome or Firefox.
2. Drag the PDF onto a new tab, or press Ctrl+O to open it.
3. Enter the password when the browser prompts you.
4. Press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac).
5. Set the destination/printer to "Save as PDF".
6. Click Save.

The PDF saved by the browser has no password — it prints the decrypted content to a new file. The entire PDF is rendered unencrypted.

Method 2: FileShot PDF Editor (Browser-Based, No Upload)

1. Go to fileshot.io/tools/pdf.
2. Upload the password-protected PDF.
3. Enter the password when prompted — this unlocks the PDF locally in your browser.
4. Use the Remove Password or security settings to clear the protection.
5. Download the unprotected PDF.

Since processing happens in your browser via WebAssembly, the document is never uploaded to any server — important if the PDF contains sensitive information.

Method 3: Preview on Mac

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. Enter the password when prompted.
3. Go to File → Export as PDF.
4. In the export dialog, click Security Options.
5. Leave all password fields blank and uncheck any restrictions.
6. Click OK and Save.

Method 4: Adobe Acrobat

1. Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro (enter the password).
2. Go to File → Properties (→ Security tab).
3. Change Security Method to "No Security".
4. Click OK, then save the file.

Method 5: pdftk (Command Line — Free)

pdftk is an open-source, cross-platform command line tool. It can remove open passwords (if you provide them) and strip permissions restrictions:

# Remove open password (requires knowing the password)
pdftk secured.pdf input_pw "YourPassword" output unlocked.pdf

# Strip permissions restrictions (no password needed for permissions-only PDFs)
pdftk secured.pdf output unlocked.pdf allow AllFeatures

Download pdftk at pdflabs.com.

Method 6: Ghostscript (Command Line — Free, Open Source)

# Remove password with Ghostscript (must know the open password if one exists)
gs -q -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=pdfwrite \
   -sPDFPassword="YourPassword" \
   -dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress \
   -sOutputFile=unlocked.pdf secured.pdf

Ghostscript is free and open source, available at ghostscript.com. It strips all security settings in the output PDF.

Can I Remove a PDF Password Without Knowing It?

For permissions-only PDFs (which open freely but restrict printing/copying) — yes, tools like pdftk and Ghostscript can strip those restrictions without the password.

For open-password PDFs (require a password to open at all) — no practical method exists for a properly encrypted AES-256 PDF with a strong password. These require the password to decrypt. Recovery tools exist for short or weak passwords using dictionary attacks and brute force, but a randomly chosen 12+ character password is effectively uncrackable with current technology.

Method Comparison

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