Password-Protect or Redact a PDF on Mac

Ensuring the privacy of your PDF files is paramount, and employing encryption, password protection, or redaction is crucial. Mac users can now safeguard their PDFs through password protection or redaction using the UPDF program.

Add Open Password to PDF
Add Permissions Password to PDF
Check Security Properties
Remove Security
Redact PDF

Add an Open Password

UPDF provides extra security to your PDF documents by applying an open password. The purpose of an open password is to restrict your document from an unauthorized person to open and view it.

To add an open password to your PDF, open your PDF in UPDF first.
Click the "Protect Using Password" icon.

Select the "Document Open" option.

After setting the document open password, hit "Apply" to enable the password on your document.

Click "Save" to save the file. Please note that "Security settings will not be applied to the document until you save the document."

Add a Permissions Password

Permission Password is also known as Master Password. A permission password allows you to restrict printing, editing, and copying content in the PDF.

Choose the "Permissions" option in the "Encrypt with Password" window.

Type the Permissions Password and retype to confirm.
It will restrict the printing, editing, and copying permissions by default. But If you want to customize the permissions, please click "More Options".

You can now customize the permissions.
Click "Apply" to save the password.

Click "Save" to save the file. Please note that "Security settings will not be applied to the document until you save the document."

Check Security Properties

In UPDF, you can also check the security properties of your existing documents.

Click the "Protect Using Password" icon.
Choose the "Security Properties" option.

You can check the "Security" "Advanced" and "Description" properties of your PDF document.

Remove Security

UPDF also gives you the feature to remove security from your existing document.

To remove security from your document, click on the "Protect Using Password" icon.
Select the "Remove Security" feature to remove any type of restrictions. This button won't be visible if your document doesn't have any security.

It will ask you "Are you sure you want to remove security from this document?" Click the "Remove" button.

You need to enter the password before removing it.

Save the file after you remove the password.

Redact PDF

Besides restricting access by the implication of the passwords, you can also limit text revelation via the PDF text redaction feature. It lets you black out the selected portion of the PDF content. Once redacted, no one can view the content; thus, your data privacy will remain intact.

Hop on below to learn how you can redact PDFs with UPDF!

Open the desired PDF in UPDF.
Go to the Redact mode and choose any of the following options depending on your convenience:

Mark for Redaction – Click on this option, select the text you want to redact, and click the Apply button in the top right corner.

Redact Pages – Owing to this option, you can select whether you want to redact the current page, all of the PDF pages at once, or a custom range of pages. You can also choose to redact odd or even pages. Just select the range and hit OK to apply redaction.

Properties – This option reveals different redaction properties for altering, like the color for redaction, any overlay text you want to appear on the redacted content, and different font parameters.

Once you are done with all these steps, don't forget to save your file.