Protect PDF
Set a password so only the right people can open it.
- Zero-transmission processing
- No watermark
- Limited daily trial
- Unlimited on Pro
Drop your PDFs here
or pick them from your device
Your files are never transmitted. Nothing is uploaded.
Good to know
- Accepts
- Files at once
- One at a time
- Transmission
- None — nothing is uploaded.
Chain it
Run this tool and the next one back to back — nothing to download in between.
How to do it
- 1
Add your file
Add the PDF you want to lock. The tool uses real PDF encryption, not a viewer setting that a different reader can ignore.
- 2
Set it up the way you want
Choose a password. Nobody can open the file without it — including us, and including you if you lose it, because the password is never sent anywhere and there is nothing to reset.
- 3
Download the result
Download the protected file. Share the password separately from the document; sending both in the same email undoes most of the point.
Questions about Protect PDF
- What happens if I forget the password?
- The file stays locked. This is not a policy we could bend: the password is never transmitted, so there is no account, no recovery link and no copy on our side to unlock it from. Store it somewhere before you close the tab.
- Is this real encryption or just a restriction flag?
- Real encryption. The file contents are encrypted, so a reader that ignores permission flags still cannot show the pages without the password.
- Can I protect several files at once?
- Add them together and each one comes back protected with the password you chose. There is no per-file charge, because the work costs us nothing to run.