Unlock a PDF

How it works

1. Drop the password-protected PDF (max 10 MB on Free, 200 MB on Premium).
2. Type the password you currently use to open the file. It must be the existing opening password.
3. Click Unlock. You get back the same PDF with the password removed, ready to open without prompting.

Legitimate-use scope

Use this tool only on a PDF you own or that you have the right to unlock. conv2pdf does not break any encryption: it cannot open a file you cannot already open yourself. The existing opening password is required, and the tool simply re-saves the document without it once you have proven you know it.

There is no brute force, no password guessing and no recovery of unknown passwords. If you do not hold the password, this tool cannot help you — and removing protection from a document you have no right to access is your responsibility, not something conv2pdf enables.

What gets removed

Unlocking removes the opening password (the user password) so the PDF no longer asks for it on every open. Once unlocked, the file opens directly in Adobe Reader, macOS Preview, modern browsers (Chrome/Edge/Firefox/Safari) and mobile PDF readers.

The document content, pages, fonts and metadata are kept as-is — only the encryption layer is stripped. The output is a plain PDF, with no conv2pdf watermark added and no sign-up required.

Privacy and security

The entire operation runs on our servers in France (OVH Gravelines). No US third party is involved in the process — no CDN, no storage, no tracker. Your PDFs are never indexed, analyzed or inspected. The password is never stored: it is used only to decrypt the file in memory, then immediately erased after processing.

The source PDF and the unlocked PDF are deleted after one hour. If you create a share link, a copy of the PDF is kept for the period you chose (up to 7 days on Free and 30 days on Premium). You can delete the share (and therefore the PDF) at any time. conv2pdf is GDPR-compliant, and a DPA is available on request for professional use.

Frequently asked questions

I forgot the password — can you recover it?

No. A forgotten password makes the PDF unrecoverable, and that is the whole point of encryption: there is no back door. conv2pdf can only remove a password you can still provide. To unlock the file, you must know its current opening password.

Does this break the PDF encryption?

No. The tool decrypts the file using the password you supply, then saves it without protection. It never attempts to bypass, guess or crack the encryption. If the password is wrong, the operation fails.

Is the password sent anywhere?

No. It is used locally on the server to decrypt the file, then erased from memory. No log, no storage, no third-party transmission.

The PDF blocks printing or copying but opens without a password. Can you remove that?

Not with this tool. Unlock removes the opening password. A PDF that opens freely but restricts printing or copying is a separate case and is out of scope here.