Protect PDF
Password protect a PDF free in your browser.
Password Protect a PDF Without Uploading It
When a document holds anything private — a contract, a payslip, medical notes, or financial statements — you want it locked before it goes anywhere. Our Protect PDF tool lets you password protect a PDF so it cannot be opened without the password you choose, and it does the encryption right on your device. Your file and your password never leave your browser.
How It Works
Load your PDF, type a password, and confirm it. PDFMarkr encrypts the file locally, in your browser's memory, and hands back a protected copy you can download. Nothing is sent to a server, there is no account to create, and no software to install. Anyone who opens the finished file is asked for the password first, so a forwarded or intercepted document stays unreadable. This is what people usually mean when they search for how to encrypt a PDF or add a password to a PDF: a real open password, applied without a cloud round trip.
Set Permissions, Not Just a Password
Beyond locking the file, you can decide what someone may do once they have opened it. Toggle whether the document can be printed, whether its text can be copied, and whether it can be edited. Leave printing and copying on for a report you want colleagues to use freely, or switch them off to keep a sensitive file closer to view-only. These permission settings are written into the PDF and respected by standards-compliant readers.
Common Use Cases
- Emailing an invoice, tax form, or bank statement that should not be readable if forwarded
- Sharing an HR letter, job offer, or medical record with only the intended recipient
- Locking a proposal or price list so it cannot be edited or copied
- Adding a password to a scanned ID or legal document before it ever leaves your device
Honest Limitations
Please read this before you rely on the tool. If you lose the password, the file cannot be recovered. There is no back door and no reset, so keep it somewhere safe. A password protects the file at rest, but once a trusted recipient opens it they can save an unlocked copy, so this is not digital rights management. The permission flags for printing, copying, and editing are honored by well-behaved PDF readers, yet some third-party apps may ignore them. Encryption is also not the same as redaction: it hides the whole file behind a password but does not remove any visible content, so use a dedicated Redact PDF step if you need text permanently gone.
Need the Opposite?
If you have a file you can already open and want to strip its password for easier everyday use, our Unlock PDF tool removes it locally in the same private way, without uploading anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Open the Protect PDF tool, drop in your file, type a password, and confirm it. Optionally set whether printing, copying, and editing are allowed, then encrypt and download. It is completely free, needs no account or install, and the encryption happens in your browser.
The file cannot be opened or recovered. PDFMarkr does not store your password and there is no reset or back door, because the encryption runs locally on your device. Save the password somewhere safe before you rely on the protected file.
No. Your PDF and your password are processed entirely inside your browser, in memory, and are never sent to a server. When you close the tab, that working copy is gone. This is what makes it a genuinely private way to lock a PDF.
Yes. Alongside the open password you can toggle whether the document may be printed, whether its text may be copied, and whether it may be edited. These permission flags are written into the PDF and respected by standards-compliant readers, though some apps may ignore them.
If you already know the password and want to unlock the file, use our Unlock PDF tool, which removes the password locally in your browser. The Protect PDF tool only adds encryption; it does not crack or bypass a password you do not have.
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