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I have made usage restrictions to a PDF file and protected it with a password. Now I would like to remove the protection to allow my self to do more with the document. Doing a Google search for "unlock protected pdf with password" gave me all sorts of crazy suggestions using all sorts of cracking/hacking/illegal tools.

So I refined my search and included "adobe support" and found the following page.

Removing Security from PDFs: Individually and in Batch

This is where my problems would have ended but my version of Adobe Acrobat doesn't match the version used in the description. Also, my Security tab of the Document Properties dialog box (i.e. security properties) does not have the security options as shown in the example.

This is their:

their

And this is mine:

mine

So how do I do this? Do I really have to hire a hacker for a day? Just to perform this simple task of unlocking the restrictions of my own document? I mean I know the password... hell, I thought Adobe software would be smarter than this.

I previously had the older version of Adobe Acrobat as the one shown in the example (see screenshot and link above) and I know that it was possible to remove this restriction very easily. There was even a dedicated button for this on the toolbar.

This is the Security button in old Adobe Acrobat:

security button

For the record, I have Adobe Acrobat X Pro.

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  • 1
    Doesn't the official way work (scroll to bottom: Tools > Protection > Encrypt > Remove)? I have no Acrobat installed so I have to ask you. I see that you ask for "usage restriction" and not for "password removing", but I guess removing the password would give you full access.
    – nixda
    Jul 8, 2013 at 8:46
  • @nixda Thanks! It was my mistake! The PDF file was open in Adobe Reader instead of Adobe Acrobat. I didn't even realize it until I saw "adobe reader" in the title bar of the program window. Both programs look the same.
    – Samir
    Jul 8, 2013 at 10:26
  • 1
    You can remove Permission pswd if you know just the Open Document pswd, try this with ghostscript => gswin64c -dSAFER -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -sFONTPATH=%windir%/fonts;xfonts;. -sPDFPassword=123456 -dPDFSETTINGS=/prepress -dPassThroughJPEGImages=true -sOutputFile=OUTPUT.pdf INPUT.pdf
    – dns
    Nov 4, 2015 at 13:25
  • Try this answer (with online and offline options).
    – Alisa
    Nov 13, 2015 at 23:32
  • @dns Thank you, this solved for my use case. I had to remove ";xfonts;." to get it working on my Win11 machine with gs9561w64 (July 2022).
    – AlanK
    Jul 5, 2022 at 10:23

5 Answers 5

55

Try QPDF

I did not want to upload my PDF to a dodgy site and wait in queue, so instead I spend some time googling. I found this free open source utility called qpdf.

I ran it on the file like this:

qpdf --decrypt input.pdf output.pdf

And the restrictions were removed. Note that the original PDF was not password protected.

Further reading

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  • 2
    Won't work on protected PDF with Permission Password.
    – dns
    Nov 4, 2015 at 12:58
  • Tried to unlock my pdf with qpdf but it did not work. qpdf --show-encryption filename.pdf shows file is not encrypted anymore. But if I open it in Adobe Reader the LOCK sign is there and i cannot copy or print this PDF.
    – Sairana
    Jun 1, 2016 at 12:07
  • 3
    Worked like a charm. macOS users, brew install qpdf. Feb 1, 2017 at 17:26
  • 3
    It worked for me (print restriction removal).
    – sys49152
    May 19, 2017 at 6:03
  • Brilliant, worked a charm and really saved me today!! Thanks!!
    – jiraiya
    Oct 21, 2019 at 10:07
16

PDFUnlock! "Remove passwords and restrictions from secured PDF files!"

3
  • Thanks! Now, I have already removed the restriction using the official method. But I made a new test document where I used the same password to restrict editing. I then processed it through the website you liked to and the result was an unlocked file. So this method should work as well. This tells something about the security of PDF files, doesn't it? I mean this clearly shows why protecting PDF files with passwords is ineffective.
    – Samir
    Jul 8, 2013 at 10:24
  • @Sammy you said a mouthful. I guess, like most laws, rules, or restrictions they keep the honest amongst us honest.
    – argentwolf
    Jul 8, 2013 at 21:12
  • 2
    It is infuriating that some instruction manual PDF won't let me "highlight" or "sticky note" in the file, as I could naturally do with a paper document. I should be able to SAVE a copy that doesn't have the official signature, and do what I want.
    – JDługosz
    Feb 10, 2015 at 7:01
13
  • upload to google drive (with chrome)
  • hit the print button
  • save as pdf

I get the real deal, images are same resolution, file size checks out too, but all the security restrictions are gone.

Thanks Google! You guys are hackers :-)

P.S.: Sometimes the "save as pdf" option needs to be enabled in chrome.

P.P.S.: As @Gabriel Luci points out, some special functions will not get converted properly, including any "active" content that uses scripting and some form features.

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  • 2
    Hyper perfect! Should be the accepted answer.
    – Déjà vu
    Dec 27, 2016 at 6:16
  • 1
    For simple PDF documents, this is fine. But by using any "print to PDF" feature, you will lose any special features that exist in the document, like special page numbering, and links (like when the table of contents links to the actual page), etc. Dec 27, 2017 at 20:38
  • PDF files are very "secure" LOL !
    – Jorge
    Dec 10, 2020 at 16:20
8

I was also trying to bypass PDF permission password security. I have received this file from my client and he said he forgot the password. I did a quick Google search and found the website PDFUnlock but I didn’t upload the PDF file there because this PDF file is pretty confidential and this PDFUnlock website looks quite phishy. I mean in the header area there is a hyperlink that redirects to some fundraising/donation website, then there is “Purchase PDF Unlocker” button and again in the end there is a “Donate” button that redirects to PayPal. Note: It’s just my personal opinion.

Then I came across to this guide to removing PDF password security/restrictions. Program mentioned here did the job for me! It’s not free but it works perfectly. Now I can easily print, copy and modify this PDF file.

P.S. My PDF file was protected with 256bit encryption.

Update: I just discovered that Instructable tutorial link that I posted in my answer is dead so I replaced it with the website link from where I downloaded the program.

1
5

My mistake! Ever since I installed Adobe Reader (Adobe Acrobat Reader) PDF files are opening in Adobe Reader by default, not in Adobe Acrobat Pro! I need to change this.

These options are not available in Adobe Reader, they are only available in Adobe Acrobat (Pro version). So with the PDF file opened in Adobe Acrobat program the official instructions should work.

You can remove security from an open PDF if you have the permissions to do so. If the PDF is secured with a server-based security policy, only the policy author or a server administrator can change it.

  1. In the open PDF, do one of the following:
    • Select Tools > Protection > Encrypt > Remove.
    • In the Security tab of the Document Properties dialog box, choose No Security from the Security Method menu.
  2. Your options vary depending on the type of password security attached to the document:
    • If the document only had Document Open password, click OK to remove it from the document.
    • If the document had a permissions password, type it in the Enter Password box, and then click OK. Click OK again to confirm the action.

Source: Securing documents with passwords

Now this is what the Document Properties dialog box looks like when I open the same document in Adobe Acrobat X Pro:

security properties in acrobat x pro

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    It looks like you solved the problem. Can you accept your own answer to discourage spam posts? Thanks.
    – fixer1234
    Mar 24, 2015 at 5:58

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