How to print or copy from a PDF that will not let you
A PDF that opens without asking but will not print or copy has a permissions lock, not an open password. Add it to Remove a password and press Unlock it: the copy comes back with printing and copying allowed, and the pages unchanged.
Remove a passwordFree. Nothing is uploaded.
How to do it
- Open Remove a password and add the PDF.
- If it asks for a password to open it, type that password and tap Unlock.
- Press Unlock it.
- Check the result line, which says what was removed.
- Save the copy, then print or copy from it as normal.
Two kinds of PDF password
A PDF can carry two passwords. An open password, which Acrobat calls the document open password, stops anyone reading the file without it. A permissions password lets the file open for everyone, but asks readers to block printing, copying text or making changes. Acrobat, Chrome and most readers obey those blocks, which is why the Print button is greyed out, or copying gives you nothing.
You can usually tell which you have. If the file opens without asking you anything, but some actions do not work, it is the second kind. Acrobat Reader also marks such a file SECURED in its title bar, and its document properties list what is not allowed.
What Remove a password does with it
A file with only a permissions password opens here without asking. Press Unlock it and you get a new copy with no restrictions, named with unlocked at the end, and the result line says the printing and copying restrictions were removed. Nothing on the pages changes: the words, pictures and layout are exactly as they were.
A file with an open password asks for it first. Type it in the box under the file, tap Unlock, and the copy comes back with no password and no restrictions at all.
What it cannot do
It cannot open a file whose open password you do not know. It does not guess passwords, try lists of them or break them, and nothing on this site will. If you have lost the password to a file sent to you, the sender can tell you the format or send it again.
An e-book bought from a store and tied to one reading app is a different kind of lock, not an ordinary PDF password, and this tool does not open it either.
Should you remove it?
Restrictions are often switched on by the program that made the file, with no thought behind them: a statement, a society’s accounts, a form you were asked to print and sign. Removing them from your own documents, or from files you have been asked to print, is reasonable. A book, a paid report or course material may carry them because its owner does not want copies made. Removing the restriction does not change what the copyright allows, so ask the owner when in doubt.
A worked example
Your housing society emails the annual accounts as a PDF that opens on your phone, but Print is greyed out and you need a paper copy for the general body meeting. Open Remove a password and add it. It opens without asking, because it has no open password. Press Unlock it: the result line says the printing and copying restrictions were removed. Save the copy and print it from your reader as usual.
If you only needed the words, take the unlocked copy to Extract text, which gives them as plain text to paste anywhere.
Restricting your own files
To send a file that opens for anyone but asks readers not to print, copy or change it, use Add a password and choose Only restrict printing, copying and editing. As this page shows, that is a request rather than a lock, so use a real open password for anything private, and send the password separately from the file.
Questions people ask
Is my file uploaded to remove the restrictions?
No. The copy is made in your browser, on your device, and the file never leaves it.
Will the copy look different?
No. Only the security settings go. Every page stays exactly as it was.
The file asks for a password I do not know. Can you open it?
No. Only the person who set it, or who sent you the file, can give you that password.
Can I unlock several files at once?
Yes. Add them all; each comes back without restrictions, and Save all keeps the copies together.
What if the PDF was digitally signed?
The unlocked copy is a new file, so the signature no longer checks out in it, and the result line says so. Keep the original for anyone who verifies the signature.
Your file stays on your device. Foolscap does the work inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is nothing for anyone to keep. How you can check