Forgot your PDF password? What to try

If a PDF asks for a password you’ve forgotten, check your file for free. Llaves will explain whether it can try to find the password or prepare an unlocked copy. Your original PDF isn’t uploaded or changed.

Does the PDF open at all?

It asks for a password before showing any pages: we may be able to search for the password. Some older PDFs can instead be unlocked with a search on your own device. Choose the file and let Llaves check; you don’t need to identify its protection yourself.

You can read it, but printing or copying is blocked: you need a copy without those restrictions. See how to remove PDF printing and copying restrictions. This is different from finding a password needed to open the file.

You know the password and just want to remove it: use an app that accepts that password and saves an unprotected copy. Llaves does not currently accept a known PDF opening password.

Before paying, look for the password or another copy

• Search the email or message that came with the PDF. The password may have been sent separately.
• Check your password manager and saved notes.
• Ask the sender for the password or another copy.
• Look in backups for a version you can already open.

If the PDF is damaged, a password search cannot repair it. Keep the original while trying other copies.

What does online PDF password recovery cost?

The file check is free. If an unlocked copy is prepared on your device, it costs $9.99 USD, before tax, to download it. You only pay if a result is ready and you choose to save it.

A password search on our servers costs $9.99 USD, before tax, for one attempt lasting up to five minutes after it starts. Waiting for it to start can add time. You pay even if the search finishes without finding the password. If a service failure prevents us from completing it, you receive a full refund. There is no subscription or account requirement.

A long or random password may not be found. Being able to search your file does not mean we know its password or can promise success. Read the purchase terms before paying.

What happens to my PDF?

Your full PDF stays on your device. If you choose a password search, we send the information needed to test possible passwords. We learn the password if we find it. You can review what will be sent before continuing. Read the privacy details.

If a password is found, your browser checks it against your original before showing it. Keep that tab open, then save the password and use it in your usual PDF reader.