Adobe Acrobat 8 Standard

Set passwords for PDFs

You can limit access to a PDF by setting passwords and by restricting certain features, such as printing and editing.

A PDF can have two kinds of passwords: a Document Open password and a Permissions password. When you set a Document Open password (also known as a user password), anyone who tries to open the PDF must type in the password you specify. When you set a Permissions password (also known as a master password), recipients don’t need a password to open the document, but they must type the Permissions password to set or change the restricted features. If the PDF is secured with both types of passwords, it can be opened with either password, but only the Permissions password allows the user to change the restricted features. Because of the added security, setting both types of passwords is preferable to setting just one.

All Adobe products enforce the restrictions set by the Permissions password. However, because third-party products may not support or respect these settings, document recipients may be able to bypass some or all of the restrictions you set.

Important: If you forget a password, there’s no way to recover it from the PDF. Consider keeping a backup copy of the PDF that isn’t password-protected.

Add a password and security

  1. Click the Secure button  in the Tasks toolbar, and choose Password Encrypt.
  2. Click Yes to the prompt about changing the security, and if necessary, type the Permissions password that lets you change security settings. If you don’t know the password, contact the author of the PDF.
  3. In the Password Security - Settings dialog box, set the security options as desired, confirm the password, click OK, and then click OK again.
  4. Save the document to apply the security settings.
    Note: You can also restrict editing capabilities when you certify a document, or when you apply a policy to a PDF.

Remove passwords and security settings

You can remove passwords and security policies from an open PDF if you have the permissions to do so. If the PDF is secured with a security policy that resides on a server, the changes can be made only by the author of the policy or by a server administrator.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Click the Secure button  in the Tasks toolbar, and choose Remove Security. Type your password, and click Yes to the prompt about removing the security.

    • In the Security tab of the Document Properties dialog box, choose No Security from the Security Method menu.

  2. When prompted, specify the Permissions password, and then click OK.