How to password-protect a PDF with free software - PDF-XChange Editor
Posted on
43,104 Points
5:08
Joe Winograd
50+ years in computers
EE FELLOW 2017 — first ever recipient of Fellow award
MVE 2015,2016,2018
CERTIFIED GOLD EXPERT
DISTINGUISHED EXPERT
EE FELLOW 2017 — first ever recipient of Fellow award
MVE 2015,2016,2018
CERTIFIED GOLD EXPERT
DISTINGUISHED EXPERT
This video Micro Tutorial shows how to password-protect PDF files with free software. Many software products can do this, such as Adobe Acrobat (but not Adobe Reader), Nuance PaperPort, and Nuance Power PDF, but they are not free products. This video explains how to do it with excellent, free software called PDF-XChange Editor from Tracker Software Products.
Video Steps
1. Download PDF-XChange Editor
Visit the PDF-XChange Editor section of the Tracker Software Products website:
http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor
Click the white-on-green Download button for either product. It doesn't matter if you download PDF-XChange Editor or PDF-XChange Editor Plus, since you'll be selecting the Free Version when you install.
2. Run downloaded installer
Run the downloaded installer and select Free Version (unless, of course, you want more features and decide to purchase the Pro or Plus Version).
3. Open a non-secured PDF file in PDF-XChange Editor
Run PDF-XChange Editor and open a PDF file that does not currently have password protection on it.
4. Open Security section of Document Properties
Click File menu.
Click Document Properties.
Click Security category.
5. Open Password Security Settings dialog
Click Security Method drop-down.
Click Password Security.
6. Fill in Password Security Settings dialog
In Options section, select Compatibility from the drop-down and what you want encrypted via the radio buttons.
In Document Passwords section, enter password to open PDF and password to change permission settings.
In Permissions section, set Printing Allowed and Changing Allowed choices via the drop-downs; enable/disable content copying and text access for screen readers via the check-boxes.
Click OK as many times as needed to close all dialogs.
7. Save the password-protected document
Do File>Save or File>Save As or other Save choices on the File menu to save the PDF file with the password security.
Important: It is crucial to save the file after adding the password security.
8. Test the password-protected document by opening it with any PDF editor/reader/viewer
Open the password-protected PDF.
You should see something like this:
That's it — you now have a secured PDF!
If you find this video to be helpful, please click the thumbs-up icon below. Thank you for watching and have a great day!
-
4
3
8 Comments
Comment
Hey Joe,
Someone sent me a password-protected PDF. I need to remove password. I changed Security Method to NO SECURITY, entered the password and did a save-as; however, the password still remained when I tried to reopen the doc.
What am I missing?
Thanks,
Steve
Someone sent me a password-protected PDF. I need to remove password. I changed Security Method to NO SECURITY, entered the password and did a save-as; however, the password still remained when I tried to reopen the doc.
What am I missing?
Thanks,
Steve
Active 1 day ago
Hi Steve,
![pdfxc remove password]()
Simply click Yes, then OK, then File>Save As. Regards, Joe
I changed Security Method to NO SECURITYThat's good. And, of course, it means that you're able to open the password-protected file in the first place, i.e., you know what the password is (before removing it).
entered the passwordYou should not be entering a password here. When you change the Security Method drop-down to No Security, you'll get this:
Simply click Yes, then OK, then File>Save As. Regards, Joe
Comment
Thanks, Joe. However, after I follow your steps, it still prompts me for a password. which make sense...you don't want some random person removing a p/w. So, I enter my existing password, click OK, and save-as. But, the doc remains protected....
Active 1 day ago
Hi Steve,
I think you're not understanding the sequence of events. You have to be able to open the file in the first place, meaning you already entered the password. So a "random person" cannot be removing the password — only a person who knows the password and has already opened the file can do it. Thus, there's no need to ask for the password when you remove it via File>Document Properties>Security.
I think you're not understanding the sequence of events. You have to be able to open the file in the first place, meaning you already entered the password. So a "random person" cannot be removing the password — only a person who knows the password and has already opened the file can do it. Thus, there's no need to ask for the password when you remove it via File>Document Properties>Security.
So, I enter my existing password, click OK, and save-as.No, no...that's what's wrong. Don't enter the existing password there. Select No Security from the drop-down, click Yes to the prompt, click OK, then do the File>Save As. Regards, Joe
Comment
OK, maybe there's a bug in the software. After I click YES to confirm, the program, on its own, reprompts for the password.
![password problem]()
Thanks,.
Thanks,.
Active 1 day ago
Ah, now I see! Here's what's happening. There are two types of passwords for PDFs — Owner Password and User Password. The User Password is what's needed to open the file. The Owner Password is what's needed to set permissions/restrictions (and it may also be used to open the file). Your PDF file has an Owner Password on it — do you know what it is? If you open the file with the User Password, you will get the prompt that you posted for the Owner Password when trying to change security (or when changing any permissions/restrictions).
![enter user or owner password]()
Regards, Joe
Regards, Joe
Suggested Videos
Secure Boot is a mode of running VMware ESXi server that helps prevent malicious files and programs like ransomware from being loaded on to it. This is due to the fact it will only allow signed software packages. However, the recovery keys need to …
While SMBv1 has been disabled on current operating systems, some older operating systems are still in production. This can cause the vulnerability to still existing in an environment. Sometimes is shows up unexpectedly. This was the case recently an…
Suggested Courses
Next Video:Using Excel's New Image Function