Protect PDF
Protect PDF encrypts your document with AES-256 so it cannot be opened without the password, and optionally sets print, copy and edit permission flags that conforming readers will honour.
About Protect PDF
Encryption is what you want before a document with real consequences leaves your control: a signed contract sent by email, medical records shared with a specialist, payroll data going to an accountant. AES-256 is a current, well-regarded standard, and the open password is genuine cryptography. Without it the file is unreadable, no matter which reader or platform someone tries it in.
Permission flags deserve an honest description. Restrictions on printing, copying and editing are recorded in the document and respected by conforming readers, but they are not cryptographically enforced once someone holds the password. Treat them as instructions that well-behaved software follows, not as a barrier. The real protection is the password, so choose a long one and send it to the recipient by a separate channel.
How to protect pdf
- Upload the PDF you want to encrypt, or drag it into the box.
- Set a strong open password and choose the print, copy and edit permissions.
- Click the protect button to encrypt the document with AES-256.
- Download the protected PDF and test the password before sending it.
Why use this tool
AES-256 encryption
The open password is enforced cryptographically to a current standard, so the file simply cannot be read without it in any PDF reader.
Permission controls
Set flags that ask readers to block printing, copying or editing. Conforming software honours them, though they are advisory rather than cryptographic.
Password never stored
Your chosen password is used to encrypt the file and then discarded. We cannot recover it later, and the upload is deleted within one hour.