If you have protected a PDF on your Mac with a password, you can use a few tricks to remove the lock. To do this you first need the password.
Remove PDF password: Here's how to do it with the Mac's Preview app
Password-protected PDFs limit access to sensitive information. This is extremely useful for security reasons. However, over time it can become annoying to have to re-enter a password every time. Luckily, there are several ways to remove the password from a PDF file on Mac – including using the Preview app.
- Open the password-protected PDF file in the preview app. Enter the password to access the file.
- Once the PDF is open, navigate to the menu File > Export.
- Select PDF as format and uncheck the “Encrypt” checkbox.
- Find a location to save the new PDF file without password protection and click “Save”.
- The new file will now be saved without a password. You can open it at any time without having to enter a password.
More ways to remove PDF password
You can also remove PDF passwords using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. However, this method requires a paid subscription. However, some online tools such as Smallpdf and PDF2Go are free. Please note, however, that you could upload the file to a server and therefore distribute sensitive data.
- About Adobe Acrobat Pro DC: Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and enter the password. Go to the menu item “File” > “Properties” > “Security” and select “No security” under Security system. Confirm the change by clicking “OK” and saving the file again.
- About online PDF tools: Visit the website of an online PDF tool, such as Smallpdf. Select the “Unlock PDF” or “Remove PDF Password” option. Upload your PDF and enter the password when the tool prompts you. Once the password protection is removed, you can download the PDF without a password.
- About Automator on Mac: Open Automator from Spotlight or the Applications folder and select a “New Document” and then select Workflow as the document type. Find the “Extract PDF Pages” action and drag it into the workflow, as well as the “Create New PDF Document” action. Specify a location for the new file. Drag your PDF file into the Automator workflow and run it.