How to password protect a PDF before emailing it

Email is not private. If you are sending something sensitive, a password on the document means an intercepted or misdirected message is not readable.

Add a password
Whichever tool you use here, the file stays on your device. How that works

Step by step

  1. 1Add the PDF.
  2. 2Stay on Add one and type a password, then type it again to confirm.
  3. 3Lock the PDF and save the protected copy.
  4. 4Send the password by a different route, not in the same email.

Sending the password separately is the whole point

A password in the same email as the attachment protects nothing. Send it by text message, in a call, or through a different app.

Nobody can recover this for you. If the password is lost the document is gone, so write it down somewhere sensible before you send it.

Use something reasonably long. Short passwords on PDFs are broken quickly by software built for exactly that.

Questions

Can you recover a lost password?

No. Nobody can, which is the point of encryption.

Can I remove a password later?

Yes, with the same tool, as long as you know it.

Is the document uploaded?

No. It is encrypted by your own browser.