10 Different Ways to Password Protect PDF for Free

If you have a PDF document that has sensitive or confidential information, the best way to keep the document from unauthorized access is to password protect the PDF. Adding an open password to the document will make it very hard for anyone without the password to open the PDF. But you can also add a restriction (permissions) password that may allow anyone to open the document, but will prevent them from editing, copying, or printing the document.

To password protect your PDF, you need a PDF tool that has the necessary encryption features. Here we look at some of the ways to use these tools to password protect your PDF.

How to Protect PDF with UPDF - The Best Way for All

One of the best and easiest ways to protect a PDF is to use UPDF to set a password for the PDF. This PDF software is a solution that will allow users to add an open password that restricts access to the PDF document and a permissions password that will restrict the editing, copying, and printing of any PDF document.

Here's how you can use UPDF to password protect your document:

Step 1: Open the PDF Document You Want to Protect

Open UPDF on your computer and then open a PDF file that you want to protect by clicking the "Open File" button.

Step 2: Go to the Protect Icon

Click on the "Protect Using Password" icon on the right toolbar.

Step 3: How Do I Add an Open Password to the PDF

To add an open password to the document, choose the "Document Open" option in the popup that appears. Type in the password you want to use to protect the PDF.

Step 4: Can I Set a Permissions Password for PDF

If you want to restrict editing, copying, and editing of the PDF document, select the "Permissions" option. Type in the password you will use to protect the PDF.

If you would like to further customize the permission restrictions, click on "More Options" for additional options.

Click "Apply" if you finish setting. Finally, click "Save" to save the document and the password.

But UPDF is so much more than just a way to password protect a PDF document, it has numerous other features including:

It is the best way to open, read and annotate PDF documents thanks to its easy-to-access and use navigation and annotation tools.
You can use UPDF to very easily edit the text in PDF documents just as you would on a word processor. It allows users to edit the font, font size, and font color of the original text in various ways.
It also has a built-in image editor that allows you to easily insert, replace, resize, copy, delete, and crop images in the PDF.
It is also one of the best ways to extract PDF pages, reorder them, rotate them, delete them, and even add new pages to the document.

Video Tutorial on How to Protect PDF on Windows

How to Encrypt PDF with Adobe Acrobat

If you have access to Adobe Acrobat, you can use it to very easily encrypt your PDF document using a password. Here's how to password protect a PDF in Adobe:

Step 1: Open the PDF document that you want to protect in Adobe Acrobat.

Step 2: With the document open, click on "Tools > Protect".

Step 3: Choose if you would like to restrict editing with a password or if you want to add an open password that will restrict access to the file.

Step 4: Add the password or security method that you would like to use.

Step 5: Click "Apply" and this is how you encrypt PDF with Adobe Acrobat.

How to Lock PDF with Foxit PhantomPDF

To protect your PDF document with Foxit PhantomPDF, follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Open the PDF document in Foxit PhantomPDF

Step 2: Choose "Protect > Secure Document > Password Protect."

set password for pdf with foxit — *Source:kb.foxitsoftware.com*

You can also go to "File" > "Properties" > "Security" and then choose "Password Protection" from the drop-down list.

lock pdf with password using foxit — *Source:kb.foxitsoftware.com*

Step 3: In the dialogue box that appears, select the choices that you want to use and set the password you would like to use.

How to Password Protect PDF Online with iLovePDF

To password protect your PDF document online using iLovePDF, follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Go to the iLovePDF protect PDF tool to open the online PDF protection tool.

Step 2: Click on "Select PDF File" to add the PDF file to the online tool.

pdf password protect online with ilovepdf

Step 3: In the menu bar that you see to the right of the screen, add the password that you would like to use.

Step 4: Enter the password again to confirm the document.

Step 5: Then simply click on the "Protect PDF" button at the bottom to set the password.

How to Lock PDF Online with Smallpdf

You can also easily encrypt a PDF using the online tool Smallpdf. Here's how to do that:

Step 1: Go to the SmallPDF protect PDF tool to access the PDF tool to add a password to your document.

Step 2: Click on the "Choose File" button on the main screen to import the PDF to SmallPDF

Step 3: In the box that appears below the uploaded document, enter the password you would like to use. Reenter the password to confirm.

Step 4: Then click "Encrypt PDF" to complete the encryption.

How to Create Password for PDF using PDF2GO

PDF2GO is another online tool that you can use to add a password to your PDF document. Follow these simple steps to use this tool:

Step 1: Go to the PDF2GO protect PDF tool to access the tool that you need to add a password to your PDF.

Step 2: Click on the "Choose File" button on the main page and browse your computer for the PDF file to protect.

Step 3: In the "Settings" section below the document that you have added, enter the password and renter the password to confirm it.

Step 4: If you would like to add a restriction password, use the "Set password to restrict permissions" to set the restriction password.

Step 5: Click "Start" to set the password.

How to Make PDF Password Protected with SodaPDF

SodaPDF also offers online password protection features. This online tool is very easy to use, just follow these simple steps:

Step 1: On any browser, go to Soda PDF to access the tool you need to add the password to the document.

Step 2: Click on "Choose File" to import the document

Step 3: Add a password in the field provided just below the file. Renter the password to confirm.

Step 4: Then click on "Protect" to set the password.

How to Password Protect PDF with Free PDF Converter

This is another online tool that you can use to password-protect any PDF file for free. Like most of the other online tools on this list, it is also very easy to use. Here's how to protect your PDF using PDF Converter:

Step 1: Go to the PDF Converter "Protect PDF" tool on any browser.

Step 2: Click on the "Choose PDF file" option on the main screen to import the PDF document to this webpage.

Step 3: In the "Document Password" field, enter the password that you want to use and then click "Protect PDF" to set the password.

Step 4: Once the encryption process is complete, you should see the word "Protected" below the document. You can then click on the "Download" button to download the encrypted file to your computer.

How to Protect PDF with PDFEncrypt

PDFEncrypt is a free open-source Windows application that is designed for the sole purpose of encrypting PDF documents by setting a password for the document. It is free to use, but since it is not an online solution, you will need to install the app on your PC to use it.

make pdf password protected with pdfencrypt

Here's how to password protect your PDF with PDFEncrypt:

Step 1: Download and install PDFEncrypt onto your computer.

Step 2: Open the utility after installation and under "Choose a File to Encrypt" select the file that you want to password-protect.

Step 3: In the "Choose a destination for the encrypted file" select the new location for the file.

Step 4: Enter the password to encrypt the document and then click on "Encrypt."

How to Secure PDF with Sejda

Sejda PDF editor has a free and very simple-to-use online solution that you can use to password-protect your PDF documents. Here's how it works:

Step 1: Open the Sejda Encrypt PDF webpage on any browser to access the Sejda online tool.

Step 2: Click on "Upload PDF files"

create password protected pdf with sejda

Step 3: Enter your password in the field provided and then click on "Encrypt PDF."

Step 4: Once the encryption process is complete, click on "Download" to get the newly encrypted PDF file.

Conclusion

Password protection is one of the best ways to protect any sensitive data on a PDF document. And as you can see from all the options above there are many ways that you can password protect your PDF document, some are free and some are paid.

The solution you choose will depend on the kind of encryption that you want to implement. For instance, if your goal is to keep others from accessing the document entirely, then you would choose a solution that sets an open password. But if you would like to restrict editing and access, then you would choose a solution that allows you to set both an open and a permissions password. You can rely on UPDF, and it provides the best services to set passwords for PDFs. The best part of UPDF is that it is an all-in-one PDF solution to solve all kinds of PDF problems. Get it now to protect your PDF document effectively.

How to Password Protect PDF in 10 Ways