Protect PDF

When to use Protect PDF

You're emailing a salary benchmark report to a hiring manager at a company you're still vetting, and you want to make sure the document can't be casually forwarded to anyone with an inbox. Upload the PDF, type a password, and pdf-lib applies AES encryption on your own machine — the encrypted copy downloads immediately while the original stays untouched on your hard drive. The resulting file won't open in any reader without that password. This is also the right step before posting a sensitive document to a shared drive or attaching it to a form submission on an unfamiliar portal. Store the password somewhere reliable — there is no recovery path if it's lost.

• Encrypt a salary report before emailing it to an external hiring manager
• Password-protect a contract draft before uploading it to a shared drive
• Lock a board presentation before distributing ahead of a confidential vote

About this tool

Need to lock a PDF before sharing it? Upload the file, type a password, confirm it, and download an encrypted copy that requires that password to open. Useful when emailing a contract to a client you haven't fully vetted, sharing a salary document internally, or distributing a report where you control access. Keep the original — a password-protected PDF can't be unprotected if you forget the password. Both your file and your password run entirely on your computer; nothing is transmitted to any server.