Permanently remove password encryption from a PDF you have the password for, free and private.
Use this tool free →NilPDF Unlock permanently removes password encryption from a PDF, entirely inside your browser. Enter the file's password, and NilPDF rebuilds the document without any encryption at all, not a version that just skips the password prompt this one time. It supports the standard PDF encryption formats in use today, including the AES-256 encryption NilPDF's own Protect tool produces. Some protected PDFs use two passwords under the hood: a user password that only opens the file, and a separate owner password that also lifts restrictions on printing or copying. If those differ, NilPDF needs the owner password specifically before it will strip the restrictions, entering only the viewing password isn't enough. What NilPDF cannot do, under any circumstances, is discover, crack, or bypass a password it wasn't given, if you don't know the password, there is no workaround here.
Yes. Completely free, unlimited use, no account required.
Your files never leave your device. All processing happens in your browser using WebAssembly (Pyodide). NilPDF has no server, there is nothing to upload to.
No. NilPDF cannot discover, crack, guess, or bypass a password it wasn't given. This tool only removes encryption from a PDF you already have the correct password for.
The standard PDF Standard Security Handler formats: RC4 (40 and 128-bit) and AES (128 and 256-bit), including the AES-256 encryption produced by NilPDF's own Protect PDF tool.
Some PDFs have a separate owner password that controls permissions like printing or copying, distinct from the user password that just opens the file. If you only enter the user password, NilPDF can open the file but won't strip protections it isn't confident you're allowed to remove, the owner password is required for that.