A password on the file, not on a link
There are two ways to protect a document you are sending. One is to put it behind a login on somebody's service. The other is to encrypt the file itself, so the protection travels with it — through email, onto a USB stick, into someone's downloads folder.
This tool does the second. You set a password, the PDF is encrypted with it, and anyone opening the file afterwards has to type it. No service is involved, and nothing needs to stay online for the protection to keep working.
Setting a sensible password
Type it twice so a typo cannot lock you out of your own document, then send it to the recipient through a different channel from the file itself. Emailing the PDF and the password in the same message protects nothing — anyone who reads the message has both.
Be deliberate about what you choose. Nobody here can recover it, reset it or look it up, because it never leaves your browser. That is the point, and it is also the risk.
Where it fits
Sending payroll or HR documents to an employee. Emailing an ID scan or a bank statement to an agent. Handing over commercially sensitive quotes. Putting a client file on a shared drive where more people have access than strictly need it.
It is not the right tool for stopping someone copying text out of a document they can already open — that is a permissions setting, and permissions are trivially bypassed. Encryption with an open password is the part that actually holds.
What a PDF password does and does not protect
An open password encrypts the file's contents. Without it, the bytes are unreadable — that part is real cryptography and it holds. This is the protection worth using.
PDF also offers a permissions password, which claims to prevent printing, copying or editing while still letting anyone open the document. Treat that as a request rather than a restriction: the file is not encrypted against the reader, and plenty of software ignores the flags entirely. If it matters that someone cannot copy the text, they should not be able to open the file.
One practical consequence of encrypting: many other tools, including several on this site, cannot process an encrypted file until it is unlocked. Encrypt as the final step, after merging, compressing and signing, not before.
What happens to your files
Every one of these runs in your browser. The file is read from your disk, processed in memory and handed back as a download — there is no upload, no server copy and no account.
The password in particular is never transmitted. It is used in your browser to encrypt the bytes and then it is gone.
Frequently asked questions
Can you recover my password if I forget it? No. The password never leaves your browser, so there is nothing on our side to look up. Store it somewhere safe before you send the file. Write it down somewhere durable before you send the file, because a document nobody can open is worse than an unprotected one.
Should I send the password with the file? No. Send it through a different channel — a message or a call — otherwise anyone who sees the email has both halves. A phone message, a call, or a password manager share link all work; the same email thread does not.
Does this stop people copying text? That is a separate permissions flag and it is easily bypassed. An open password, which this sets, is the part that actually restricts access. If copy-protection is genuinely required, the honest answer is that PDF cannot deliver it and you need a different distribution method.
Is the password sent anywhere? No. Encryption happens in your browser and the protected file is generated locally. The encryption itself is performed by the PDF library running in your tab, using the password you typed and nothing else.
Related: Unlock PDF · Sign PDF · Fill a PDF Form · All tools