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How to Remove a Password From a PDF

Written and fact-checked by The EditPDF AI Team

If you have a password-protected PDF and the correct password, you can create an unlocked copy that opens without it. This does not recover a forgotten password — it removes encryption from a file you can already open.

Step-by-step: unlock a PDF

  1. 1Open editpdfai.com/pdf-unlock and select a password-protected PDF, up to 100 MB.
  2. 2Enter the user or owner password that already opens the document.
  3. 3The tool runs entirely in your browser — the file and password never leave your device.
  4. 4Download the unlocked copy. Text, links, forms, fonts, and image quality are preserved because pages are not converted to images.

What this tool can and can't do

  • ·Requires the correct password — this does not guess, recover, or brute-force a forgotten password
  • ·Standard encryption only — supports standard PDF password encryption; certificate encryption, enterprise rights-management, and third-party DRM are not supported
  • ·Only unlock files you are authorized to modify — remove protection you have legitimate access to, not documents belonging to someone else
Protect a PDF with a new passwordAdd fresh AES-256 password protection after unlocking.How to password-protect a PDFSet a new password once you are done editing.Repair a corrupted PDFFor files that fail to open for reasons other than a password.
Core PDF tool

Unlock PDF

The core workflow is available without an account. Browser and tool-specific limits apply.

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