How to remove PDF protection

Do you have to print a PDF document that arrived via email but, when you try to give the print command, you are asked to enter a password and then you are unable to complete the operation? Have you forgotten the secret word you set to protect some PDFs made for work and you don’t know how to unlock them? Don’t despair, or at least not yet!

Using the software, online services and apps that I am about to recommend in this guide, you will most likely be able to remove the protection from PDFs and regain possession of your digital documents even if you have forgotten the password necessary to view, print or modify them.

The result is guaranteed for PDFs protected against printing and modification (i.e. when we talk about owner passwords), while it takes a little more effort to find the passwords of documents that are protected against unauthorized access (with that which is called the user password). In all cases, however, keep in mind that removing the protection from PDF documents of which you are not the rightful owner can represent a serious violation, therefore I do not take any responsibility for the use you will make of the indications in this tutorial. Clear? Well, then let’s get started.

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to remove PDF protection
  • QPDF (Windows / macOS / Linux)
  • PDFCrack (Windows / macOS)
• How to remove PDF protection online
  • iLovePDF
  • PDF Candy
• How to remove Android PDF protection
• How to remove iOS / iPadOS PDF protection

Preliminary information

Before getting to the heart of the tutorial, and then going to explain how to remove the protection from PDFs, it is my duty to make some clarifications in this regard.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the guide, files in PDF format can be protected using two different types of passwords: the one that prevents them from being printed and modified, called the owner password, and the one that prohibits their opening, called the user password.

Understanding the difference in question and, therefore, identifying the type of password applied to the document of your interest is essential to understand which tools to use in order to proceed with the unlocking of the PDF. In fact, there are numerous software, online services and apps used for this purpose, but they are hardly able to act on both types of protections, also because they have a very different level of vulnerability.

More precisely, the owner password can usually be bypassed within a few moments, while the user password is more difficult and can only be found using the “brute forcing” technique, that is, trying all possible combinations of characters until you find the exact keyword: a process that can take several hours to complete (if not days, in the case of longer passwords) and puts a strain on the computer’s processor.

How to remove PDF protection

Having made the necessary clarifications above, let’s get to the real heart of the matter and let’s find out which software can be used to be able to remove PDF protection. Below you will find those that in my opinion represent the best in the category. Put them to the test now!

QPDF (Windows / macOS / Linux)

The first PDF unprotection software I suggest you consider is QPDF. It’s free, open-source in nature, and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It allows you to bypass the owner password and can only be used from the command line, as it does not have a graphical interface.

To download the software on your PC, if you are using Windows, go to the QPDF download page on the SourceForge website and click on the Download Latest Version button at the top left.

Once the download is complete, extract the resulting ZIP archive to a desired location and start QPDF using the Command Prompt, directing it directly to the folder containing the program. If you don’t know how to do it, proceed as follows: hold down the Shift key on your computer keyboard, right-click on the bin folder located in the folder where you extracted QPDF and select the Open command window here item from the menu displayed.

Now that you see the Command Prompt window on the screen, type the string qpdf –decrypt input.pdf output.pdf(instead of input.pdf and output.pdf you must enter the full path of the PDF to be unlocked and the output file to be obtained; you can get the full path of a file simply by dragging it in the command line) and hit the Enter key. After that, you will get an unlocked version of the PDF in the folder of your choice for the output file.

If you are using macOS, however, to download and install the program you have to rely on  Homebrew, a free and open-source package manager that allows you to install various types of software through the Terminal. So, first of all open the Terminal, selecting the relative icon (the one with the black window and the line of code ) that you find in the Other folder of the Launchpad.

Now that you see the Terminal window on your desktop, to install Homebrew, type the command /usr/bin/ruby -e “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)”, followed by pressing the Enter key on the Mac keyboard and entering the computer administration password. Then, to install QPDF, type the command brew install qpdf, always followed by pressing the Enter key.

When the installation is complete, type the command in the Terminal window qpdf –decrypt input.pdf output.pdf(instead of input.pdf and output.pdf you must type the paths of the input and output files; you can get the full path of a file simply by dragging it to the command line), press the Enter key and you will get a passwordless version of the PDF.

PDFCrack (Windows / macOS)

If, on the other hand, your need is to get rid of the user password with which the PDFs in your possession are protected, the best free software that allows you to achieve this is  PDFCrack. It is available for both Windows and macOS and also works only from the command line, as it does not have a graphical interface, but it is not very difficult to use.

To download the program to your computer, if you are using  Windows, visit its website and click the Download link ( pdfcrack-xx.zip , xxk) on the right.

When the download is complete, open the ZIP archive obtained and extract the contents in a folder of your choice. Next, call up the Command Prompt by clicking on the Start button (the one with the Windows flag ) located at the bottom left of the taskbar, typing “prompt”  in the search field displayed and selecting the relevant link from the menu opens.

Once the Command Prompt window appears on the screen, type the command CD “[cartella PDFCrack]”(instead of [cartella PDFCrack]you have to enter the full path of the folder where you extracted PDFCrack) and hit the Enter key on your computer keyboard. Next, enter the command pdfcrack “file.pdf”(instead of file.pdf you have to enter the full path and name of the file to be decrypted) and hit the Enter key again.

After completing the above steps, PDFCrack will start attacking the PDF to find its password. When it has found it, you will be shown found user-password , along with the secret word needed to open the document.

If you are using macOS , on the other hand, to download the program, visit the download page on the SourceForge website and click on the Download Latest Version button at the top.

When the download is complete, open the tar.gz archive obtained and extract the contents in a position of your choice. Then, call up the Terminal, selecting its icon (the one with the black window and the line of code ) that you find in the Other folder of the Launchpad, and enter the command cd [cartella PDFCrack](instead of [cartella PDFCrack]you must enter the complete path of the folder where you extracted PDFCrack), then hit the Enter key on your keyboard. Then, type the command make f Makefile, always followed by pressing the Enter key.

After carrying out the above steps, open a new Terminal window, issue the command [cartella PDFCrack]/pdfcrack -u “file.pdf”(instead of [cartella PDFCrack]you must enter the full path of the folder where you extracted PDFCrack and instead of file.pdf you must enter the full path and name of the file to decrypt), press the Enter key and you will be able to know the password of the PDF.

How to remove PDF protection online

You do not want or can not download new programs on your computer and would you therefore like me to suggest some online service through which you can remove PDF protection by acting directly from the browser window? Said, done: you will find the best solutions of this type reported right below.

iLovePDF

The first useful web service to unprotect PDFs that I recommend you try is iLovePDF. It does not require registration, it works from all browsers and on all operating systems and allows you to intervene on PDF files by editing them, converting them and performing various other operations … even unlocking them, intervening on files protected by owner password, while in the case of those protected on opening you need to type the relevant password to create an unlocked copy. Note that it does not allow you to upload files with a weight greater than 100 MB and that it protects the privacy of users by removing the documents that are uploaded to its servers within a few hours. Another thing to keep in mind is that it is free, but by subscribing to one of the paid plans (starting from 6 euros/month) you can take advantage of extra features, such as the ability to upload files up to 1 GB.

To use the service, go to the relevant home page , click on the Select PDF file button and choose the PDF present on your computer in relation to which you are interested in going to act. Alternatively, you can drag the document of your interest into the browser window or you can upload it from your Google Drive or Dropbox account, by clicking on the appropriate buttons.

Once uploaded, click on the Unblock PDF button at the bottom right. If the PDF is protected by a user password, also type the password of the file in the appropriate field visible on the screen and click on the Send button.

After that, the download of the unlocked version of the file will start automatically. If this does not happen, you can “force” the download by pressing the Download unlocked PDF button. Alternatively, you can save the output file to your Google Drive or Dropbox account or you can share the URL with other users by simply clicking on the appropriate buttons on the right.

PDF Candy

Another good online service that you can consider to succeed is PDF Candy. It is free, works from any browser and operating system, does not require registration and allows you to intervene on PDF documents in various ways, converting them, dividing them, lightening them, unlocking them, etc. It does not apply limitations regarding the maximum weight of the files and protects the privacy of users by removing the documents uploaded to its servers within a few hours. It allows you to act on files protected by owner password, while for those protected with user password you must first type the relative access key, in order to create a “free” version.

To use PDF Candy, go to the home page of the service, click on the Add file button and select the PDF to unlock. Alternatively, you can drag the document directly into the browser window. You can also download the file from your Google Drive or Dropbox account, by clicking on the appropriate icons visible on the screen.

Once the file upload procedure has been completed, click on the Unblock PDF button. If the PDF is protected by a user password, enter the password required to unlock the PDF in the Password field at the bottom.

Finally, click on the Download file button, in order to proceed with the download on your PC of the unlocked version of the document. Alternatively, you can decide to archive the file on Google Drive or Dropbox, by selecting the relative icons.

How to remove Android PDF protection

You’re using a smartphone or tablet Android and would like to figure out how to remove protection from PDF in this case without having to go through the computer? Well, nothing simpler: turn to the PDF-Tools app. It is a free solution that allows you to intervene on PDFs in various ways: by merging them, deleting the pages in them, dividing them, etc. It also offers the ability to unlock password-protected documents, in order to create a free copy.

To download and install the app on your device, visit the relevant section of the Play Store and press the Install button. Then, start the app, by pressing the Open button that appeared on the screen or by selecting the relative icon that has just been added to the drawer.

Once the main screen of the app is displayed, decide whether or not to receive personalized ads (I suggest not), tap the OK button and accept the terms of use by pressing the Accept and continue button. Then allow PDF Tools to access photos, media and files on your device.

At this point, touch the Unlock PDF button, select the PDF you wish to act on, by tapping the Select PDF Files button, and, if you are working on a PDF protected with a user password, enter the password used to protect the file in the designated field.

In conclusion, tap on the checkmark located at the bottom right and a passwordless copy of your document will be returned, which will be saved in the same location as the original file. It was easy, wasn’t it?

How to remove iOS / iPadOS PDF protection

On iOS / iPadOS, I recommend that you try  PDF Unlocker. It is free and allows you to create unsecured copies of PDFs, both those protected by owner password and user password (in the latter case by providing first the relative secret word used to protect them).

To download and install the app on your device, go to the relevant section of the App Store, press the Get button, then the Install button and authorize the download using Face ID, Touch ID or Apple ID password. Then, tap the Open button that appeared on the screen to start the app or select the icon that has been added to the home screen.

Now that you see the main screen of PDF Unlocker, tap the Start button, then the Choose File button and select the PDF you want to intervene on, then tap the Upload File button.

At this point, click on the Convert File button. If the PDF is protected by a user password, also type the password used to protect the file in the field provided. Finally, tap the Download File button and specify the location where you want to save the final file or the app where you want to open it.