How to remove a password from a PDF you own

Banks and insurers often send statements locked with a password. If you know the password and the document is yours, you can save an unlocked copy and stop retyping it.

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

Step by step

  1. 1Open the protect tool and add the locked PDF. It will tell you that the document is password protected.
  2. 2Switch to Take it off, if it has not already switched for you.
  3. 3Type the password the document was locked with.
  4. 4Remove the password and save the unlocked copy.

This needs the password, and that is deliberate

There is no way to remove a password you do not have. Encryption is the point of the feature, and a tool that could bypass it would make every protected document on the internet worthless. If you have lost the password, the only route is whoever issued the file.

For bank statements the password is usually derived from something you know, often a date of birth or part of an account or card number, and the covering email normally spells out the formula.

Think about where the unlocked copy ends up. A statement with the password removed is readable by anyone who can see the file, so keep it somewhere sensible rather than a shared downloads folder.

What you get afterwards

The unlocked file is a new document with the pages copied into it, saved with the name of the original and the word unlocked added. Your protected original is left exactly as it was, so nothing is lost if you want to keep it.

If the file will go somewhere shared, think about whether it should have a password at all. If it should, you can add a fresh one of your own with the same tool. A long phrase kept in a password manager is better than a short word you will have to remember.

Questions

Can you remove a password I do not know?

No. You need the password to unlock the document, here or anywhere else.

Is the document uploaded?

No. It is unlocked by your own browser, which matters rather a lot for a bank statement.

Can I add a password instead?

Yes, the same tool does both. Nobody can recover it for you, so write it down somewhere safe.

It says the password is wrong, but I am sure it is right.

Check for caps lock and for a trailing space, and make sure it is the password to open the document. The tool cannot get around a password it does not have, so a wrong one always fails.

Related jobs and next steps

How to password protect a PDF before emailing itLock a document so only the recipient can open it. Here is how, on your own device, without handing the file to a website.How to stop people editing a PDF you sendAdd a password or a visible watermark to a PDF before you send it, and understand honestly what each one does and does not prevent.How to sign a contract without printing itSign a contract on screen and send it back, without a printer, a scanner, or handing the document to a website.

Tools that help with this job

Add or remove a password
WatermarkStamp text across every PDF pageRemove PDF metadataClear author, dates and hidden detailsMerge PDFCombine files into one, in any orderSign PDFDraw, type or drop in a signature