Next, in the printers list, select “Microsoft XPS Document Writer” and then click Print. First, open the document that you wish to unlock in Adobe Acrobat Reader and click File and then Print. Granted, you won’t be unlocking the file itself per se, but you can generate an unlocked equivalent that can be edited and manipulated to your heart’s content. Fortunately, the grand majority of secured PDFs I have worked with in the past, like the ones from the IEEE consortium, can be unlocked using an incredibly easy “print to file” trick. Unfortunately, depending on the sources from which we acquire our PDFs, some of the files may in fact be secured, meaning no edits or changes can be made to the document for content-integrity reasons.Īt this point, some engineers throw their hands up in dismay, knowing that they can’t directly save the document to a different format.

Perhaps we need to make various edits and comments to the documents, or maybe we need to convert the PDFs into a different format like a Word document. With just a few clicks, you’ve added an extra layer of security to your files.įor more advanced password security settings, see our user guide.Some of us deal with a plethora of PDF documents. (Note that if you forget the password you apply there’s no way of recovering it – so make sure to keep your passwords documented in a safe place!)

Once you have set your passwords and selected the actions for which they’ll be required, select ‘Finish’ to activate the password protection. The restricted functions – those protected by the additional password – will be greyed out and inaccessible to the user until they enter the password.ģ. For example, you could password allow anyone to view and comment on the file but keep editing and signing password protected.

No one without the password will be able to open or view the document.īy selecting the “ permissions” option, you’ll be able to choose which actions users can and cannot do without a separate password.

Selecting the “ open password” box will require users to enter a password each time they open the PDF. You’ll have two options for your password protection: “open password” and “permissions.”

Foxit reader password protect