Password Protect PDF

Add a password to any PDF so it can't be opened without it. AES-256 encryption. Runs entirely in your browser — your file is never uploaded.

Browser-side encryption builds a new PDF from page images, so the output will look identical but its text won't be selectable. For text-selectable encryption you'll need a desktop tool. We surface this so there are no surprises.

Rendering uses pdf.js and the encrypted PDF is built with jsPDF — both in your browser. Your file and password never leave the page.

FAQ

Is my PDF uploaded?▼

No. Rendering, encryption, and the new file build happen entirely in your browser. Nothing ever leaves your device.

Why does the output rasterize my PDF?▼

Browser-side PDF encryption is only available via jsPDF, which builds a new PDF from scratch. To carry over your original content, we render each page at 2× resolution and embed it as an image. The result looks identical but text won't be selectable in the output. If you need text-selectable encryption, use a desktop tool like qpdf.

How strong is the encryption?▼

jsPDF supports AES-256 encryption by default (standard for modern PDF viewers). The user-password is required to open the file; the owner-password (if different) is required to change permissions.

What permissions can I block?▼

By default we allow printing and copying. Toggle the checkboxes to disallow printing, copying text, or annotating — your owner-password is required to change these later.

Is the password recoverable if I forget it?▼

No. The whole point of PDF encryption is that the file is unreadable without the password. Save it somewhere safe (a password manager) before sharing the file.

More PDF Tools