3 best ways to password protect a PDF file for free

PDF is one of the safest and most reliable file formats for sharing your work with people. You can even increase its security by encrypting it with a password to prevent unauthorized access. In this article, you will learn 3 effective ways to password protect your PDF file for free. To make it more convenient to share, you can also compress PDF files online.

Also, read | 5 ways to convert PDF to Google Docs

Free ways to protect your PDF file with passwords

Use built-in Microsoft Office tools

You can create and secure your own PDF with the built-in Microsoft features that come preinstalled with Office Suite. With Microsoft Word you can create a pdf file and encrypt it by adding a password. Follow these simple steps to do the same.

• Open Microsoft Word on your computer and create a blank document file.

• Enter the desired data in it and save it by clicking on File button and choosing Save as.

• Select the desired destination to save the file and click Save as Species option to display a list of file formats.
• Choose PDF format.

• Click on Options button and check Encrypt the document with a password and click OK.

• Enter your own desired password to secure the PDF file and click OK.

• Click on Save button to save this encrypted PDF file.

Using third-party Windows tools such as PDFEncrypt

There are many trusted third-party tools designed for Windows to encrypt your PDF file with a password for free. One such effective tool is known as PDFEncrypt. With this tool, you can easily protect your PDF file by setting your own password. This is offline tool so you don’t have to worry about any data compromise. Follow these steps to do the same.

• On your Windows system, open PDFEncrypt and download its installer.

• Install the application the following installation wizard.
• Open the application in your system.

• You will see a window asking for the source, destination and password to encrypt the file.
• In the Source section, click three-dot icon to select the pdf file you want to encrypt.

• You can set the destination of the encrypted file according to your wishes. By default, the path remains the same.
• Come in password you want to use to secure your PDF file.
• Click on Encryption button to encrypt a pdf file.

• This tool also offers a various options via settings while encrypting a file such as selecting your own set of permissions for actions that can be performed on an encrypted PDF file.

• That’s it. You have successfully password protected your PDF.

Use the Adobe Acrobat website

Another most efficient and reliable way to encrypt your PDF is to secure it online using Adobe Acrobat. Follow these simple steps to achieve the same.

• Open Incognito mode in your web browser and access Adobe Acrobat PDF Password Protection Web page. We use anonymous mode to avoid login pop-ups which usually appear after the download page is generated.
• Click on Select a file to open the desired PDF file you want to encrypt.

• On the next page, enter a strong password which will be used to encrypt the PDF file.

• Click on Set a password button.

• Click on download button to download encrypted PDF file.

• That’s it. You have successfully encrypted your PDF file.

Bonus: Use Android apps like PDF tools

You can too protect and secure your important PDF files with the help of free third-party Android applications such as PDF Tools. Follow these simple steps to learn how to do the same.

• Open Google Play Store, search Application PDF Tools and install it.
• Provide the necessary file access permissions in the application.
• Scroll down to find Lock PDF and touch it.

• Tap on Select PDF files button to view and select the PDF file you want to encrypt.
• Secure password to encrypt this file and tap the check mark button in the lower right corner of the application window.

• Congratulations. You have successfully encrypted your PDF file. You will be prompted to enter a password when you open this encrypted PDF file.

Finish

So, this is a pack for 3 ways to protect pdf files for free with passwords. If this article helped you encrypt and secure your pdf file, click the Like button and share this with your friends to help them secure their files. As always, stay with us for more informative articles like this.

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