Decrypt PDFs on your computer

Enter the password and download an unencrypted copy directly in your browser. Your original PDF and password never leave your device.

100% private: everything runs on your computer, your files never leave your device.

Upload your password-protected PDF
Enter its password
Download the unencrypted copy

What Decrypt PDF does

Decrypt PDF takes a password-protected document you can already open and saves an unencrypted copy of it, on your own computer. You type the password once, the file is rewritten without its encryption, and from then on it opens without being asked for anything.

It is not a password cracker, and it is worth being blunt about that. If you do not know the password, this tool cannot help you: there is nothing to guess, nothing to try and no recovery of any kind. It removes protection from a document you are already entitled to open, which is the situation almost everyone is actually in.

The password you type is used to open the document in the browser and nothing else. It is never stored, never remembered between sessions and never sent anywhere, because there is nowhere for it to be sent to.

How to remove a PDF password

Add the protected PDF. OléPDF checks whether it is actually encrypted and says so if it is not.
Type the password. There is a control to show what you are typing if you want to check it.
Press Decrypt PDF. The document is opened and rewritten locally.
Download the unencrypted copy. It carries the suffix _unlocked, and the protected original on your disk is left exactly as it was.

What it can and cannot open

PDF encryption comes in more than one shape, and the tool is honest about which ones it handles.

Handled: a document encrypted with a user password, once you supply that password.
Handled: a document with an empty user password, which opens without prompting but is still encrypted internally. It is rewritten as a clean unencrypted copy.
Not handled: a document whose password you do not know. Nothing is guessed or brute-forced.
Not handled: encryption schemes the reader cannot open at all. You get a message saying so rather than a broken file.
In batch, all the PDFs in a run are tried with the same password. Any file that needs a different one is listed in the manifest instead of silently failing.
The original file is never modified. What you get is a second, unencrypted copy.

Privacy: the password never leaves your computer

The document is decrypted and rewritten inside your browser tab. Neither the PDF nor the password is uploaded, and no third-party script is loaded to handle either of them. The only thing your browser fetches is OléPDF's own code from its own domain.

That matters more here than almost anywhere else on the site. A protected document is protected for a reason, and the password to it is exactly the kind of thing that should never be typed into a web form that sends it somewhere.

Typical uses

Removing the password a bank puts on statements, so the file can be filed and searched like any other.
Preparing a protected document for a tool that refuses to open encrypted PDFs.
Cleaning up a payslip or an invoice that arrives encrypted every month.
Making an archive copy that will still open in ten years, when nobody remembers the password.

Frequently asked questions

Can it open a PDF whose password I do not know?

No. It removes the protection from a document you can already open by typing its password. There is no guessing, no brute force and no recovery.

Is decrypting a PDF free?

Yes. Unlocking one PDF at a time is free and unlimited, with no account. Unlocking several in a single run requires the 7-Day Pass or Pro.

Is my password sent anywhere?

No. It is used to open the document inside your browser and is never stored, remembered or transmitted. Neither is the PDF.

Does the original file change?

No. You download a second copy without encryption, marked with the suffix _unlocked. The protected original stays as it is on your disk.

Can I unlock several PDFs at once?

Yes, when they share the same password, with the 7-Day Pass or Pro. Files that need a different password are reported in the manifest rather than failing quietly.

The tool says my PDF is not protected. What does that mean?

That it opens without a password already. Some documents restrict printing or copying without being encrypted for reading, and there is nothing for this tool to remove.

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