How to Remove Password Protection from PDF

Elise Williams

2023-03-01 22:13:26 • Filed to: How-To-Windows • Proven solutions

For file security, it's common for PDF files to be protected by passwords. If PDF files are password-protected, you can prevent them from being opened, edited, and printed without the proper authorization. However, when you don't need the passwords anymore, you can remove password protection from PDF if you've already known the password with a PDF solution like Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor . If you don't know the password, you can use a professional PDF Password Remover to help you with that. Please note that it is illegal to remove the open password without the correct authorization.

In this article, we'll cover six efficient solutions for how to remove password protection from PDF. Among these methods, Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor is the most recommended tool to do this because it can help you do the task quickly and easily.

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Part 1. Remove Security from PDF with PDFelement

The PDF password remover tool - PDFelement has a powerful, yet intuitive interface that makes the process of removing security from PDF simple. It is compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS，and Android systems. It provides a password protection feature for you to add passwords to the PDF files that you need to protect. And if you don't need the password anymore, you can remove password from PDF in the following steps. PDFelement can remove both open and editing passwords from PDF.

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Step 1: Load a Password Protected PDF

Launch PDFelement, then drag and drop a password protected PDF file in the program window to open it. Or click "+" to select the PDF you want to open. If the PDF file is protected with an open password, you'll need to enter the open password before the file is opened.

Step 2: Begin to Remove Password Protection

Then you can go to Protect > Set Password and uncheck Open Password to remove the password from the PDF file.

If the PDF file is protected with a permission password that prevents printing, copying and editing, click the "Enable Editing" button on the notification bar to get the editing permission. Then, in the pop-up window, enter the password and click the "OK" button.

Step 3: Remove Password Protection

Now go to the "Protect" tab, and click on the "Set Password" button. You can deselect the "Open Password" and "Permission Password" checkboxes to remove password restrictions from your PDF document. After that click the "Save" button. If you want to edit PDF documents, you can also do this with PDFelement, including the text, image, comments, pages, forms, etc.

PDFelement is an all-in-one PDF solution that allows you to edit, protect, sign, and organize PDF files. Download it and have a try by clicking the button below.

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Part 2. How to Remove Password from PDF File without Password

In rare instances, you need to remove a password from PDF files because you don't have the password. So you can do this using Wondershare PDF Password Remover. It is one of the best methods to remove passwords from PDF files without password because it removes protections and restrictions on editing, printing, and copying. Here is the PDF password remover free download.

Step 1: Import Password Protected PDF Files

You can import up to 200 PDF files at a time! To import the PDF files, click the icon in the middle of the interface. If you want to upload files in batches, you can click the folder icon and import all files within the folder. You can also drag and drop the files to import the encrypted ones.

Step 2: Remove PDF Password

There are two things to note here: when no lock icon appears on the PDF item bar, the PDF is protected from editing, copying, and printing only. Click the "Start" button to remove these restrictions. On the other hand, if a lock icon appears, then the PDF has an open password, which prevents the file from being opened. You'll need to enter the password first to unlock the PDF file before you click on the "Start" button.

This password remover is very simple, but it can be a real life-saver when you need to open a protected PDF without password. Download and have a try!

Part 3. Remove Password Protection from PDF by Printing(Chrome)

If you do not have a program installed to remove passwords from PDF documents, Google Chrome is an excellent alternative to remove password protection from a PDF file. However, this trick won't work if you don't know the password and the file is protected from opening or printing. If you don't know the password, you should download try Wondershare PDF Password Remover introduced in Part 2.

Step 1. Open a PDF with Password in Google Chrome

Make sure you install the latest version of Google Chrome. Then drag and drop the password-protected PDF into the Chrome tab to open it.

Step 2. Delete Password from PDF

Use the "Print" option in Chrome to print the password-protected PDF file to a PDF. This is the most important step when you are trying to learn how to remove a password from PDF files without software.

Step 3. Save the PDF without Password

You can save the PDF file without password protection using the "Save" button，and then you will find this newly saved PDF file in your local drive.

Part 4. Remove Password from PDF using Adobe Reader(with Password)

Adobe Acrobat Pro also supports the ability to remove password protection from Adobe PDFs. Here are the two required steps. Adobe Acrobat also requires you to enter the correct password first before you can remove it.

Step 1: Open a PDF in Adobe

Install Adobe Acrobat Pro and open your password-protected PDF file in the program. Go to "File" > "Properties," or you can click "Permission Details" in the left panel.

Step 2: Delete Password from PDF

In the "Security" tab, select "No Security" in the "Security Method" drop-down menu to remove the password. Then you can save the PDF without password protection.

Part 5. How to Remove Password from PDF Online Online

1. Remove Password Security from PDF Online with HiPDF

HiPDF is an online tool that can help you remove security from PDF online as well. Let's check out the easy steps as below:

Step 1: Upload PDF in HiPDF

Go to the HiPDF - Online PDF Password Remover page to upload a password protected PDF file.

Step 2: Enter the Password

Enter the correct password of your PDF document on the page, and then click the "Unlock" button. After that, it will remove the password from the file.

Step 3: Download PDF Document

Finally, you can click the "Download" button to download and save the new PDF file without a password in your local drive, or you can choose to share the PDF document directly.

2. Remove Password Security from PDF Online with Google Drive

Google Drive can also help you remove passwords from PDF files. Here is a step-by-step guide for you.

Step 1: Upload PDF in Google Drive

Upload the password-protected PDF to your Google Drive account.

Step 2: Remove Password from PDF Document

Right-click the PDF file to choose the "Open With" > "Google Docs" option.

Step 3: Resave PDF Document

After opening the file in Google Docs, you can click the "File" > "Download" > "PDF document (.PDF)" button to resave it on your computer. Then the newly saved PDF file does not have password protection. However, when the PDF file is opened by Google Docs, the layout of your file may be changed, so the best tool for you to remove password protection from PDF is still PDFelement.

Part 6. FAQs - Remove PDF Password Protection

1. What is password protection in PDF?

Password protection in PDF is the way to protect a PDF file from opening, viewing, printing or editing by adding password to the file. You can perform PDF password protection with PDF software like Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor. After adding password protection to the PDF file, people can't edit, print, or open your PDF files without the password. Password protection is recommended for file security.

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2. How to password protect PDF?

PDF software like Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor can let you easily add password to protect a PDF file. You can decide the level of protection, such as protecting the PDF file from editing only, printing only or preventing any unauthorized access to the file. Learn more about how to password protect PDF.

3. How do I remove password protection from PDF?

If you don't know the password, you can't open an encrypted PDF file and thus you can't remove the unknown password from PDF with PDF editors like Wondershare PDFelement, Adobe Acrobat, or online tools like iLovePDF or Smallpdf. 

To remove unknown password from PDFs, you can try some PDF password remover programs that claim they can remove protections from PDF without a password. However, there is no guarantee that these programs can work. 

4. How to Remove Password from PDF on Mac?

To remove PDF password on Mac, you can use Preview on Mac. Open the password-protected PDF document with Preview, then enter the password. Now click "File" > "Save as" to save the document in PDF format without password. Learn more about remove password from PDF on Mac.

5. How do I remove a password from a PDF without Adobe Reader?

With Adobe Reader, you can also choose to remove password from PDF with other useful tools, such as PDFelement, PDF Password Remover, Google Chrome, Google Drive and online services such as HiPDF. Among them, Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor is undoubtedly the best one. Start the free trial first before buying it and you'll lilke it!

Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!

Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!

Buy PDFelement right now!

Buy PDFelement right now!

Elise Williams

chief Editor