Password-protect a PDF

Before you email a CV, a scanned ID card or a contract, you can lock the PDF with a password. Only people you give the password to can open it. The file is encrypted with AES-256 in your browser; it is not uploaded.

How to use it

1. Drop the PDF in the box.
2. Type a password twice. Longer is safer; a short sentence works well.
3. Untick Allow printing or Allow copying text if the reader should only view it.
4. Click Protect and download, then open the new file once to check the password works.

Good practice

• Send the password a different way from the file: by text message or phone, not in the same email.
• Keep the password somewhere safe. It cannot be recovered, by us or anyone else.
• Printing and copying limits are respected by normal PDF readers but are not a strong barrier. The open password is what keeps the file private.

Need to remove a password instead? Use unlock PDF.