Protect PDF
Add password encryption to a PDF.
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About Protect PDF
A PDF sent by email or left in shared storage can be read by anyone who finds it. Choose a password between 4 and 40 characters and the tool saves a copy encrypted with AES-256, so a reader has to enter that password before the pages open. One password does the whole job: there are no separate permission settings. It is not kept with the job record, so write it down, because it cannot be recovered for you.
Features
- AES-256 encryption applied on our server
- One password to open the file, with no separate permission passwords to manage
- Password length checked in the form and again on the server
- The password is not saved with the job record
- Files that already have a password are refused with a clear message
Limitations
- The password must be 4 to 40 characters and cannot be only spaces.
- If you lose the password the file cannot be opened, and we cannot recover it because it is not saved.
- Files can be up to 50 MB and are uploaded to our server; a PDF that already has a password has to be unlocked first.
- Downloading the protected copy needs a free account.
How it works
- Drop a PDF onto the upload area, or browse for it. A file that already has a password must be unlocked first.
- Type the password to set. It must be 4 to 40 characters and not only spaces, and the hint under the box repeats this.
- Select Protect PDF and wait while the server encrypts the file.
- Select Download to save the copy as protected followed by the original name, then open it once to test the password.
Frequently asked questions
- The encryption is AES-256, but the lock is only as strong as the password. The tool accepts short passwords, and a short or common one is easy to guess, so use a long phrase that you do not use anywhere else.
- No. The form has a single password field, and that one password is used to open the file. There are no separate settings for printing, copying or editing permissions.
- Yes, with the PDF, because the encryption happens there. The password is used to encrypt the file and is not written to the job record. The protected copy is kept for a limited time, 24 hours for a guest, and then deleted.
- Run the file through Unlock PDF with its current password, which saves a copy without encryption, then upload that copy here and set the new password. Protect PDF will not encrypt a file that already has one.