How to secure a PDF file.

Need to learn how to secure a PDF with a password to keep your files safe?

When sharing PDFs containing sensitive information, you must take measures to protect them. Whether you’re sharing tax information, business contracts, or design drafts, good document security ensures that only the appropriate people will see your PDFs.

Learn how you can secure any PDF document with Adobe Acrobat.

Why learning how to secure a PDF is important.

PDF security should be at the forefront of your mind when creating documents. There are numerous reasons to keep your PDF secure, but the following are a few examples:

• Maintain document contents. By using PDF security features, your hard work is less likely to be altered.
• Limit access. By securing your PDF, you allow only authorized people to access it. This is especially important when handling private and personal information about yourself or others.
• Copyright protection. You don’t want other people trying to pass your work as their own. And while there are laws protecting documents from copyright infringement, the process of finding the person who has copied your work and getting them to stop can be expensive and time-consuming.

Securing your document from the start sets your projects off on the right foot by preventing your PDFs from getting into the wrong hands.

Options: How to secure PDF documents.

You may want to start implementing document security measures but not know how to secure a PDF. There are multiple routes for achieving document security. You can password-protect a PDF online, password-protect a PDF with Adobe Acrobat, secure a PDF file using Word, or secure a PDF with a password on your Mac.

How to password-protect a PDF online.

If you’re on the move, you can secure your documents on a laptop or mobile device with Adobe Acrobat online services.

1. Use your web browser to navigate to the Protect PDF tool.
2. Upload your document.
3. Type in a secure password.
4. Download your PDF for safe sharing.

How to password-protect a PDF with Adobe Acrobat.

Follow these steps to learn how to protect a PDF with Adobe Acrobat:

1. Launch Acrobat.
2. Select Tools > Protect.
3. Locate your PDF and set your protection settings.

You can secure your PDF in several ways. The Restrict Editing option lets you put document editing behind a password. Anyone can open and view the file, but they need to know the password to make any further edits to the PDF.

With the Encrypt option, you can secure the entire document with either a certificate or a password. That means no one without the proper credentials will be able to open the PDF. You can also erase potentially identifying invisible data from the document with the Remove Hidden Information option.

Once you’ve secured your document, save it as a new file and share it.

How to secure a PDF file using Word.

If you’re creating a document in Microsoft Word, you can easily implement security features into your document.

Here’s how to secure a PDF using Word:

1. Open the document you would like to password-protect.
2. Click File.
3. Select Info.
4. Select Protect Document.
5. From the dropdown menu, choose Encrypt with Password.
6. Type a password, then click OK.
7. Type the password again to confirm it, then click OK.

Your document is now secure. Every time you open it, you will be prompted to type a password to access it.

Secure a PDF with a password on your Mac.

On a Mac, you can set a password using the native Preview app.

Here’s how to password-protect a PDF using Preview:

1. Open your PDF in Preview.
2. Select File > Export.
3. Click the permissions button, and do either of the following:

• Set permissions. Check the checkbox next to the action that allows printing or other changes without the owner password. Leave the checkbox unchecked to mandate the owner password.
• Set a password for opening the PDF. Choose “Require Password To Open Document” and type a password. Retype to verify the password.

4. Type a password into the owner password section, then retype it to verify.
5. Select Apply, then Save.

The next time you open your PDF, these changes will be implemented.

Is password protection ideal for securing PDF documents?

When you create a secure PDF, you’re taking a few moments to prevent what could be an extended process of getting your work out of the wrong hands. Password protection is a great way to add a layer of protection to your PDFs, as it makes it less likely that the wrong people will access your document. Password protection ensures that the right people are accessing your documents at the right time.

More resources to work with PDFs.

Now that you’ve learned how to password-protect a PDF file, here are additional resources to work with your PDFs:

• Learn how to encrypt a PDF file for email.
• Discover how to share PDF files more securely.
• Want to work with other elements of your PDF? Learn how to make a PDF interactive.
• Learn how to make PDF files non-editable.

Explore everything you can do with Acrobat and Acrobat online services to make working with PDFs easier than ever.