How To Remove a Password from a PDF File? The 2 best ways

Few PDF files are encrypted with a password, you will need to enter the password each time you want to view the document. You have the ability to remove the password to save yourself the minor inconvenience, that is if you are keeping the PDF in a secure location.  

This article will cover two ways how to Remove a Password from a PDF file: A pretty obvious trick that works in all operating systems with applications you already have. The official method requires you to have Adobe Acrobat. Both of these methods assume that you know the password to the encrypted PDF file. Sadly, there is no easy way to remove a password if you do not know it.  

The Obvious Trick: Print the PDF  

This option may seem like a trolly, however, believe us, you can easily as well as conveniently remove the password from a PDF file by opening it, then printing it to a new PDF. Your system will be creating a duplicate copy of the PDF, that duplicate copy will not be having a password.  

This trick only works if the PDF does not have any printing restrictions. However, the majority of the PDF files are just password-protected to provide encryption; they can be printed normally after you have provided the password.  

This can be done in a few ways. If you are running Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux, or Chrome OS, you can do so using your browser. First, you need to open the PDF document, then enter the password. Click on “Print” on the PDF toolbar while viewing the document.  

Click on “Change” under Destination, then click on “Save as PDF”. Click on “Save,” and you will be asked to enter a name as well as to choose a location for the new PDF. The new PDF will be containing the same content as the original PDF, however, it won’t be password-protected.  

This method will work in Chrome on any operating system, you can also perform the same trick using other applications as well as PDF printers. As an example, Windows 10 includes a PDF printer, you can do this in Microsoft Edge or any other PDF viewer on Windows.  

If you open a protected PDF document in Microsoft Edge after providing the password. Click on “Print” on the PDF viewer toolbar.  

Click on “Microsoft Print to PDF” printer. Then click “Print”. You will be prompted to enter a name and choose a location for the new PDF file.  

This can be performed in any PDF viewer on Windows 10. All you need to do is select the “Microsoft Print to PDF” printer. For those who are using older versions of Windows, you will have to install a third-party PDF printer before you can perform this trick (or you could just use Chrome).  

This method also works in other OS. For example, for Mac uses, this can be done with Preview or any other PDF viewer along with the built-in PDF printing feature.  

First, you need to open the protected document in Preview by providing the password it requires. Click on File > Print, this will open the print dialog.  

Click on “PDF” at the bottom of the print dialog, then click on “Save as PDF”. Enter a file name and also choose a location for the new PDF file when asked. The new PDF file will contain the same contents as the original, however, with no password.  

Note – Due to the printing process, the resulting PDF will not be having selectable text. If you need to copy text from the PDF, you will have to re-open the original password-protected PDF, then copy the text from there. Or you could try using the optical character recognition (OCR) software on the unprotected PDF.  

The Official Method: Use Adobe Acrobat Pro  

You can also remove passwords from PDFs using Adobe Acrobat Pro, which is a paid application. This is a different program from the free Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF viewer that you might be having. Adobe does offer a week-long free trial of Acrobat Pro. What’s the need for paying you to ask? Adobe Acrobat Pro will work even if the PDF has printing restrictions, which would make it impossible to be printed in other applications using the above trick.  

First, you have to open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro, then provide the password to view it. Click on the lock icon on the left side of the window, then click on “Permission Details”. You can just click on File > Properties, then click on “Security.”  

Click on “Security Method”, click on “No Security”, then click on “OK,” this will remove the password.  

Click on File > Save to save the changes you’ve made. You can just close the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC window; you will be prompted to save the changes made. After you have done so the password will be removed from the original PDF file.  

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