Remove Pdf Password Protection
Remove PDF Password using Adobe Acrobat XI. The official way to remove PDF password is to use Adobe’s own Adobe Acrobat Pro tool. It is a paid tool with a 30 day free trial, and you can easily remove the password protection right inside the PDF viewer without any need for third-party tools. Method #1: Remove PDF Password by Printing it to a New PDF. Open any of your default web browsers and go to the 'Download' section of the browser. Choose the PDF file which must be present in the Download section if you had downloaded it in the first place using the same browser and click on it to open the file.
I am trying to fill out some docs, but the provided PDFs are 'SECURED', meaning I can't use FoxIt's typewriter tools.
Is there any way to remove the security?
AngryHackerAngryHacker11 Answers
Contrary to the other solutions, you do not need additional software.
Anyone with Windows can do it with no extra software in 4 simple steps.
- Open the PDF
- Go to File > Print. From your print options choose Microsoft XPS Document Writer. Although you might expect it to print, it does not print anything, it will create an XPS Document.
- Open the resulting XPS file
- Press Print, go to Microsoft PDF Creator. It will now save it as a PDF again. Again, it will not print.
In my case I had to remove the first/last page of a document so I only printed the pages required.
Assuming it's simply a 'rights' (owner) password that restricts things like editing, printing, and copying (i.e. the password does not need to be entered to open the file) the following will remove the restrictions:
- Grab https://github.com/qpdf/qpdf/releases
- Unzip/Install and navigate to the bin folder that holds qpdf.exe (or similar for your platform)
- Place the PDF you wish to work on in the same folder
- Run:
qpdf --decrypt InputFile.pdf OutputFile.pdf(use's if the file name has spaces). - Do what you like with the OutputFile.
If your PDF file is user password protected, change step 4 to qpdf --decrypt --password=yourpassword InputFile OutputFile
This won't work for Adobe Digital Editions and may have issues with digitally-signed files.
Some discussion on the background of these owner password restrictions at https://lwn.net/Articles/335415/ .
DanDan- Print to a PostScript (PS) printer (where the printer's port is set to print to file, not to the printer -- or check the 'Print to file' option in the Print dialog)
Edit the resulting
.psfile and remove:Save and distill the
.psfile
Remove Pdf Password Protection Online
Easy!
- From the full version of Acrobat (I used v9.3), select 'File.Export.Postscript.Postscript'. This creates a '.ps' file.
- Click on the .ps file, it converts it back to pdf automatically with Acrobat distiller.
- You now have a perfect copy of the original file, minus any signatures, restrictions on editing, etc.
I needed this technique fix the pdf file so it would display on my Kindle DX, via the 'Advanced.Preflight' menu. This method worked perfectly on a file that had resisted all attempts by the four major utilities that offer to remove restrictions on pdf files (i.e. A-PDF, pdftk, Kernel PDF, UnrestrictPDF) .
ContangoContangoDirectly (see and) remove the restrictions from your pdf without any tricks:
1- Online method:
If you want to do in your browser (without installing a tool), then use PDFUnlock. You just need to upload your pdf (drop it to the available box) and it removes the security restrictions. However, up to 5MB files are converted for free.
2- Offline method:
But, like me, if you prefer having an offline tool on your machine, then you can install Weeny Free PDF Password Remover.
(PDF). ^ Constable, Peter (2004-04-19). (PDF). D d 5e half dragon race.
Using google chrome offline (without uploading anything)
It's a slightly old thread but as I use this often, I wanted to update it:
- Simply drag and drop the PDF in question on a blank chrome page.
- Chrome opens the 'locked' PDF.
- Now print the document and use 'save as PDF' as the printer of choice.
- Enjoy your perfectly conserved and unlocked PDF (esp. copy & paste ;-) )
The 'print'->'save as' step can be tricky when you do it the first time, as you might choose the PDF Writer/Maker for output and you will end up with a locked PDF again.
The process is further described here: Save As PDF
On some versions of chrome (older?) you have to activate the 'save as PDF' option first.
As you can install chrome without giving them your email address, I would consider this a truly 'free' solution.
I upload it to google drive with chrome, hit the print button and save it as pdf (which has to be enabled within chrome settings on some versions).I get the real deal, images are same resolution, file size checks out too, but all the security restrictions are gone.
Thanks Google! You guys are hackers :-)
The best option I have found is this online tool: https://smallpdf.com/unlock-pdf
Edit: they now have a desktop application too. https://smallpdf.com/desktop
Removing user/open password is next to impossible, but if your PDF file is only protected with owner password, i.e., PDF print, edit, copy and other functions are disabled then there are several programs available to remove PDF security like the one mentioned in this article: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Remove-PDF-Password-Security-PrintEditCo/
Due to security and privacy reasons I would not recommend those online services where you’re supposed to upload your PDF documents to remove PDF security.
In my case, there was a view password that maintained its state through save -- but print, etc. were not blocked. That left open the analog method, or print-to-PDF-printer, which is what I did. The resulting file lacked a password, and seemed to suffer no degradation.
protected by nhinkle♦Jul 24 '11 at 19:50
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