PDF Encrypt
Protects PDF files with a password or restricts printing, copying and editing. You can encrypt many files at once.
What it does
Used to protect confidential contracts, personal documents or corporate reports from unauthorised access. You can require a password to open the document, or leave it open but block printing and copying.
How to use
- Drag the PDFs you want to protect into the list.
- Type a password into Open Password and confirm it. Leave this blank if you only want restrictions, no password.
- Optionally set an Owner Password. This is used to change permissions later.
- Uncheck the permissions you want to block (Print / Copy / Edit).
- Click Run.
You get one encrypted PDF per input file, with the same base name.
The two-password model
| Password | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open Password | Required to open the document. Leave blank and the document opens freely. |
| Owner Password | Required to change permissions later. Usually kept only by the administrator. |
Permissions
- Printing: Disable to prevent the document from being printed.
- Text and graphics copying: Disable to prevent text being selected and copied.
- Document modification: Disable to lock the content from being edited.
Examples
Open password only: Type Report2026! into the open password, confirm it, leave permissions as-is. The document opens with the password and everything is allowed afterwards.
Restriction without password: Leave all password fields blank. Disable printing and copying. The document opens freely but cannot be printed or copied.
Full corporate protection: Open password Viewer2026 (handed out to staff), owner password MasterAdmin#9821 (only the admin knows it), disable all three permissions. Staff can read but do nothing else.
Silent restriction: Leave open password blank, fill in owner password, disable printing. The PDF opens with no password and cannot be printed, but the admin can lift the restriction with the owner password.
Watch out
- Open password and confirmation must match exactly, including case.
- If you lose the owner password you cannot lift the restrictions, you would need to re-encrypt.
- Leaving both password and permissions empty shows an error. You must set at least one.
- Double-clicking a row in the list removes that file.
- Forgetting the password locks you out of the document forever. Keep it somewhere safe.
License
Free tier has a monthly encryption cap. Office plan removes it.