PDFs are everywhere, and most people use them to protect sensitive information. After all, it’s much easier to secure a PDF than it is to lock down the same documents on your computer (or on a cloud service). But sometimes, you need access to that information, which means it’s time to crack open your password. Here we’ve rounded up three simple methods for removing PDF passwords:

Method 1. Remove a PDF Password With Adobe Acrobat

• Download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (the latest version) if you don’t have it already installed on your computer.
• Open the PDF document that has been password protected by double-clicking on it or right-clicking and choosing “Open With”, then select Adobe Reader from the list of programs that appear in a dropdown menu. Make sure that the “Always use this program” option is selected, so you don’t have to change settings every time when opening an encrypted file from now on.
• Once open, click on Edit on the top left corner of the screen (or press CTRL+E). Then click Remove Restrictions at the bottom of the screen under the Document Security tab (or press CTRL+R).
• Type in the password when prompted and click OK to save changes made to your document’s security settings.

Method 2. Remove a PDF Password With Google Chrome

To unlock a PDF file in Chrome, you’ll need to open the file with Google Chrome and then follow the steps below.

• Download and install Google Chrome if you don’t already have it installed on your computer.
• Open the PDF file using Google Chrome.
• Click on the three-line icon in the top right corner of your screen next to a menu icon that looks like three lines stacked on top of each other (this is known as an app menu). This will open up a dropdown menu with several options listed—click Print from this dropdown menu (it’s near the bottom).

Method 3. Remove a PDF Password With Google Docs

The third method is to remove the password from your PDF document using Google Docs. As per Adobe Acrobat’s experts, “This is a very simple and effective way of removing a PDF password, but it does require you to have access to another computer or device with the Google Docs application installed.”

First, open your PDF file in Google Docs by clicking File > Open and navigate to the location where your document is stored on your device (the default location for most devices will be Documents). Next, click Tools > Remove Password from within Google Docs and then choose Open in the dialogue box that pops up. Your document should now open without being protected by a password!

In this article, you learned three ways to get around password protection on a PDF using both free and paid software. Hope these methods will help you solve your problem and allow you to focus on more important things in life.

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