🔓 Unlock PDF
Remove password protection from a PDF when you know the password. Your file and password are processed entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Select or drop your locked PDF here
or
document.pdf
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1. Your browser reads the encrypted PDF and derives the decryption key from the password you typed.
2. The content streams are decrypted in memory using the derived key.
3. A new PDF is saved without an /Encrypt dictionary — the output opens with no password prompt.
All of this happens locally. No data ever leaves your device.
How to Unlock a PDF
Upload Locked PDF
Drop your password-protected PDF above or click to browse.
Enter the Password
Type the password that opens the document. Leave blank if it has no open password.
Unlock & Download
Click "Unlock & Download" to get an unprotected copy of the PDF.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. PDF encryption is mathematically strong — the content is genuinely unreadable without the correct password. This tool needs the password to derive the decryption key. There is no "reset", no backdoor, and no brute-force that would work in a browser.
If you've forgotten the password, the file's content is unrecoverable. Contact the original sender or the document's author to get the correct password.
Yes. All pages, text, images, form fields, annotations, bookmarks, and metadata are preserved exactly. The only difference is that the new file has no password and no /Encrypt dictionary — it opens directly in any PDF reader.
That PDF has an owner password (also called a permissions password) but no user password. Anyone can open it, but the permission flags restrict what they can do. This tool removes both types of protection — just leave the password field blank and click Unlock.
You'll see a clear error message: "Password is missing or incorrect". The file is left untouched — no partial output, no corrupted file. Just try again with the correct password.
The tool detects this automatically and tells you the file has no password protection. You don't need to unlock it — it's already open. You can still use the "Unlock & Download" button to produce a copy with no encryption dictionary at all (useful for some edge cases involving reader quirks).
No. Everything happens in your browser using the @cantoo/pdf-lib library. Your password is used locally to derive the decryption key and never transmitted. You can verify this by opening DevTools → Network tab — you'll see zero outbound requests beyond the initial page load.
Yes. The library supports all standard PDF encryption methods: RC4-40, RC4-128, AES-128, and AES-256 (revision 6). Whatever modern PDF reader can open, this tool can decrypt — as long as you know the password.
Unlocking a PDF you own or have permission to modify is generally fine. Removing password protection from a document you don't own or have rights to may violate copyright law or terms of service in your jurisdiction. Use this tool responsibly — only on files you have the right to modify.