How to remove a password from a PDF
If you can already open it, removing the password is usually a save or print trick built into your computer. Here is how.
The two kinds of PDF password
An open password stops the file from being viewed at all until it is entered; you need to know this one to do anything with the file. A permissions password (or "owner password") lets the file open freely but blocks printing, copying text or editing, and can sometimes be removed even without knowing it, since most PDF readers let you view and print a restricted file regardless. What follows is for a PDF you can already legally open and want to stop having to unlock every time.
On a Mac
Preview does this in one step: open the password-protected PDF (entering the password when asked), then choose File, Export As PDF. Preview saves a new copy without the password or the permission restrictions, because it exports the already-decrypted content rather than the original encrypted file.
On Windows
There is no equivalent one-click export in the built-in PDF viewer, but the print trick works: open the PDF in Edge or Chrome (entering the password), choose Print, then set the destination to Save as PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF, and save. The resulting file is a fresh, unprotected PDF, since printing renders the page content rather than copying the original encrypted file.
The print trick on any device
The same idea works anywhere a PDF can be opened and printed: iPhone, Android and any browser support printing to a PDF file. It works for permission restrictions unconditionally, and for an open password once you have entered it correctly, since by that point the reader is showing you the plain content.
A dedicated tool for restriction passwords
When you already know the password and just want it gone for good, Stayput's unlock PDF tool removes it directly in your browser: enter the password once, and it re-saves the PDF without it, without the print step's slight risk of re-rendering text as an image in some viewers. Nothing is uploaded; the file and its password stay on your device.
Questions
Can I remove a PDF password without knowing it?
Not an open password that genuinely restricts viewing; you need it to see the content at all. A permissions password (blocking printing or copying) can often be bypassed just by viewing and printing the file, since most readers do not enforce those restrictions strictly.
Does printing to PDF lower the quality?
For ordinary text and images, no meaningful difference. Highly precise vector graphics or forms with fillable fields can occasionally lose some structure through a print-based export, since printing flattens the page.
Is removing a password from a PDF I own legal?
Yes, removing a password from a PDF you have the legal right to open and use is fine. This does not apply to files you do not have permission to access.
Does an online PDF password remover upload the file?
Many do, which means both the file and its password reach someone else's server. A browser-based tool that processes the file locally avoids that.