Add a password to a PDF, block printing, copying or editing, or both. Encryption runs in your browser with AES-256; the file and the password never leave your device.
Add the four-page practice report. Keep Password to open, enter practice-only twice and leave the optional restrictions off. Click Protect and download the copy.
Open the downloaded copy in a PDF viewer: it should ask for the password and show all four pages when you enter it. To check the round trip, add the protected copy to Unlock PDF and use the same password; its output should open without a prompt.
This published password is only for the public sample. Use your own long, unique passphrase for a private file, keep the original and share the password separately. Restrictions only opens without a password and is not suitable for confidentiality.
PDF security has two layers. The open password (the user password) is the real protection: the whole file is encrypted with a key derived from it, and without the password there is nothing to read. Restrictions are permission flags stored alongside the encryption — no printing, no copying, no editing, no comments — that viewers agree to honour. They are protected by a second, owner password; Toolkitta generates a random one you never see, so the flags cannot be flipped from inside a viewer.
A restriction-only file uses an empty open password, so any program can decrypt it and, if it chooses, ignore the flags. That is exactly what Unlock PDF does, and what many desktop tools do. Restrictions are useful for stopping accidental changes or signalling intent — a form that should be filled but not altered, a proof that should not be printed — not for keeping content from someone determined. If confidentiality matters, set an open password.
Files are encrypted with AES-256 (security handler revision 6), a method defined by the PDF standard. The recipient’s viewer must support this encryption; older or limited viewers may not open it. The document itself is not altered: pages are not copied or flattened, so bookmarks, links, comments, editable form fields and metadata are kept. Before the copy is offered for download, it is reopened with your password to confirm it works. Already-encrypted files are refused — remove the old password with Unlock PDF first — as are digitally signed documents, PDFs with empty signature fields and XFA forms.
No. The file is encrypted in your browser with the password you type; neither leaves your device. The password is not stored, not added to the page address and not written into the file in readable form. Keep this tab open until you download the result; reloading clears the session. Website hosting and performance measurement are described in our Privacy notice.
The file is encrypted with AES-256, the strongest method the PDF standard defines and the one Acrobat uses by default. The practical strength is your password: a short or guessable one can be tried at high speed by password-recovery software, a long, unique passphrase is harder to guess. There is no back door, so also keep your unprotected original.
Yes: choose Restrictions only and tick what to block. The file opens normally, and viewers such as Acrobat, Preview and browsers disable those actions. Understand the limit: such a file is encrypted with an empty password, so a tool like our Unlock PDF, or any PDF library, can produce an unrestricted copy. Restrictions signal intent and prevent accidents; they do not keep content from a determined person.
Use a viewer that supports AES-256 PDF encryption. Check the downloaded copy in the app your recipient will use; older or limited viewers can fail. This tool has no legacy RC4 export option.
They are kept. The document is not copied page by page or flattened; encryption wraps the existing content. Editable form fields stay editable unless you block comments and form filling. The title, author and other metadata are encrypted with the rest of the file, so they are not readable without the password.
Yes, up to 20 files, 50 MB each and 200 MB combined, 300 pages per file. The same password and restrictions apply to every file in the run. Download them one by one or as a ZIP. Each copy is reopened with its password before it is offered, so a file that failed that check is reported instead of downloaded.
PDFs that already have a password or restrictions (remove them with Unlock PDF first, then protect with a new password), digitally signed documents (re-saving would invalidate the signature), PDFs with empty signature fields, XFA forms and files over 300 pages. Damaged files are reported; export a fresh copy from the application that made them.
No. There is no recovery mechanism and Toolkitta never sees the password, so this tool cannot restore access. Use the unprotected original you kept, or the source document, and protect a fresh copy. This is the trade-off that makes the protection meaningful.
Guides, common conversions and useful next steps.
Use the complete page workspace for supported text and image edits, forms and signatures.
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