Protect PDF Online
Encrypt a PDF with a password so only authorized recipients can open it.
100% free, no signup. Your file is processed entirely in your browser and never uploaded, then e-sign in one click when you are ready.
Drop your document here and sign it now. PDF, Word and Excel all work: a .docx or .xlsx is laid out in your browser exactly as it was written, so there is nothing to convert first. Add a signature, a date, a company stamp or a watermark, then download it sealed. Free to start, no account, and the file is never uploaded to open it.
How to protect pdf in 3 steps
- Upload your PDF, Open the Protect PDF tool and add your PDF. Files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.
- Protect PDF, Encrypt a PDF with a password so only authorized recipients can open it.
- Download, Download your file instantly, 100% free, no signup, no watermark.
Two different things get called a password
An open password stops the file being opened at all. Without it there is nothing to see, and nobody, including us, can recover it. A permissions password lets anybody open the document and claims to restrict printing, copying or editing, and it is enforced by the reader rather than by the file. Readers that choose to ignore it exist.
Knowing which one you have set matters. An open password on a document sent to a client means arranging for them to have the password, and sending it in the same email defeats the exercise entirely.
What a password does not do
It does not prove who opened the document, it does not tell you if it was forwarded, and it does not survive the recipient saving an unprotected copy. Encryption controls access; it says nothing about integrity.
If what you actually need is confidence that the document has not been altered, that is a different mechanism: a sealed document carries a fingerprint that anybody can check, and it keeps working after the file has been forwarded, printed and re-saved.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Protect PDF tool free?
Yes. Protect PDF is 100% free with no signup. Your file is processed entirely in your browser and never uploaded to a server.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It runs in any modern browser on desktop or mobile, no app, no plugin, no account.
Is my file private?
Yes. Files are processed locally in your browser, so they never leave your device.
What if I forget the password?
The document cannot be opened. There is no back door, which is the point of encryption. Keep the unprotected original somewhere safe.
How do I send the password to the recipient?
Not in the same email. A phone call or a message on a different channel is the usual practice, and it is what makes the password worth setting at all.
Is a permissions password real protection?
It is a request that readers honour by convention. Treat it as a signal of intent rather than a control.