How to Password Protect PDF Files

This wikiHow teaches you how to lock a PDF document with a password to prevent others from opening the file without entering the correct password. There are several free online services to do this, or you can use the paid version of Adobe Acrobat Pro (if available).

Table of Contents

With SmallPDF

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Open SmallPDF’s protected page. Go to https://smallpdf.com/protect-pdf/ using a web browser. SmallPDF will allow you to set a password for PDF files so that others cannot open them without knowing the password.

If you want to lock the option to edit PDF files with a password, use PDF2Go.

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Click Choose file . This red link is in the middle of the page. A window will open.

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Select PDF file. Go to the folder containing the PDF file that you want to lock with a password, then click the document.

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Click Open in the lower-right corner of the window. The PDF file will be uploaded to the SmallPDF website.

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Enter password. Enter the password you want to use in the “Choose your password” field, then re-enter the password in the “Repeat your password” field below.

The password you enter in the two fields must match before you can continue.

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Click ENCRYPT PDF → (Encrypt PDF). This red button is below the password data field. The password will be applied to the PDF file.

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Click Download File Now . This button will appear on the left side of the page once the password of the PDF file is applied. The password-locked PDF file will download to your computer. From now on, every time you want to open this PDF file, you will have to enter the correct password that you set.

With PDF2Go

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Open the PDF2Go website. Go to https://www.pdf2go.com/protect-pdf/ using a web browser. Like SmallPDF, PDF2Go also allows you to password protect PDF files; In addition, this software also locks the editing of PDF documents, meaning that no one can change the content without knowing both passwords.

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Click Choose File . Options are near the top of the page. A window will appear.

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Select PDF file. Go to the PDF file you want to add a password to, then click to select.

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Click Open in the lower-right corner of the window. The PDF file will be uploaded to the website.

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Scroll down to the “Settings” section in the middle of the page. You will set a password here.

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Enter password. Enter the password for the PDF file in the “Enter user’s password” text box, then re-enter the password in the “Repeat user’s password” box below. This is the password you use to open the PDF file.

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Turn off PDF file permissions. Click the No bubble below the “Allow Printing?” heading. (Allows to print?), “Allow Copying?” (Allow copying?) and “Allow Modification?” (Allow modifications?).

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Scroll down and enter the edit password. Enter the password you want to use to lock editing on the PDF file into the “Enter owner’s password” and “Repeat owner’s password” text boxes. near the bottom of the page.

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Click SAVE CHANGES (Save Changes). This green button is at the bottom of the page. PDF2Go will start assigning a password to the PDF file.

With Adobe Acrobat Pro

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You need to make sure you have the paid version of Adobe Acrobat. You cannot edit PDF files (including adding a password) when using the free Adobe Reader.

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Open the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat. Click File in the upper-left corner, click Open… in the drop-down menu that appears, select the PDF file, and then click Open in the lower-right corner of the window.

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Click View . This menu option is at the top of the Adobe Acrobat window (on Windows) or the desktop (on Mac). A drop-down menu will appear.

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Select Tops from the drop-down menu. A menu will pop up with additional options.

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Choose Protect in the pop-up menu. Another menu will pop up.

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Click Open in the last pop-up menu. The “Protect” tool window will open.

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Click Encrypt in the middle of the window. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Click Encrypt with Password . The encryption options page will open.

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Check the box “Require a password to open this document”. The option is under the heading “Document Open”. The data field for entering the password will be available.

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Enter password. Enter the password you want to use in the “Document Open Password” text field.

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Select the compatibility level. Click the “Compatibility” drop-down box and then click the minimum version of Adobe Acrobat with which you want the file to be compatible.

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Check the “Encrypt all document contents” box. The action is in the “Options” section. This will prevent others from extracting information from the PDF document.

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Click OK at the bottom of the page.

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Re-enter the password when prompted. Re-enter the document’s password, then click OK . Your changes will be confirmed and applied to the PDF file. From now on, you will have to enter this password every time you want to view a PDF document.

Advice

When setting a password for a PDF file, you should use the same rules that you would normally apply to email or computer passwords. This will help protect the PDF file from predictions based on savvy or luck.

Warning

PDF files can be opened by special software. Even if you’ve locked a PDF document with a password, it’s still a good idea to store the file in a safe and private place.

Steps

With SmallPDF

With PDF2Go

With Adobe Acrobat Pro

Advice

Warning

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