Anyone opening the file will need the password. Encrypted with AES-256, the strongest PDF standard.
Drag it in or choose it.
Type it twice to be sure.
A locked PDF, ready to send.
Adding a password means nobody can open the PDF without it.
Open the new file once yourself to check the password works before you send it.
Typing the password twice catches typing mistakes. If the two do not match, you are asked to fix them before anything is locked. The password boxes hide what you type, so check that Caps Lock is off and your keyboard is set to English.
Your original file stays as it was. You download a separate locked copy, so you still have an open version for yourself.
The file is encrypted with AES-256, the strongest standard PDF readers support. Every common reader, like Adobe Reader, phone PDF viewers and web browsers, will ask for the password before it shows anything.
The real protection comes from your password. Use at least 8 characters with a mix of letters, numbers and a symbol. Avoid your phone number, CNIC number or date of birth, because people who know you can guess them.
A short sentence you can remember, with a number in it, is often stronger than one hard word. Something like three random words joined together works well and is easy to read out on a phone call.
This lock is an open password: it stops the file from being opened at all. Once someone has the password, they can read and print the file normally.
Send the password in a different way from the file. For example, email the PDF and share the password by phone call or SMS. If both travel together, the lock does not help much.
Do all your other changes first. Merge, compress, rotate or number the pages, and lock the file as the very last step. Most PDF tools, here and elsewhere, can't work on a file that is already locked.
If the file is going to many people, such as a class or a team, one shared password is simpler. If it is for one person only, a password just for them is safer.
Encrypting happens in your browser. The file and the password stay on your device and are never sent to us or stored anywhere. This is safer than tools that need the file on their server just to lock it.
Yes. The PDF is locked with AES-256 encryption on your own device, so we never see the file or the password.
The file can't be opened, and we can't recover it because we never see the password. Keep your original unlocked copy safe.
Yes. Phone PDF viewers and browsers ask for the password, then show the file normally.
Unlock it with the old password using Unlock PDF, then protect the unlocked copy with the new password.
No. The pages look exactly the same; the file just needs the password to open.
At least 8 characters mixing letters, numbers and a symbol, and nothing easy to guess like your birthday.