Select the ‘Encrypt’ option, then enter a password and click ‘Save’ to publish your file. Click on the ‘Show details’ option in the save dialog.ģ. Open the PDF file you want to protect with Preview. You can add a password to your PDF with the standard Preview app on your Mac.ġ. Tick the ‘Require a password to open the document’ option and type in your password. Click the ‘Restrict editing’ option at the bottom of the save dialog box.ģ.

You can export your Word document as a PDF file and password-protect it. Password Protecting a PDF in Microsoft Word 2019 This way, search engines won’t be able to access its metadata, and your file won’t appear on Google, Yahoo, or Bing.īut even if you don’t have Adobe Acrobat or Reader, you can still password protect your PDF. With its help, you can set viewing and editing restrictions as well as encrypt the contents of the file. No matter what tool you use to work on your PDF files, you can easily protect them with a password to ensure the basic security of the content.Īdobe offers an extensive guide on how to set a password for your PDF. Let’s start with password protection though. For example, disabling downloading or tracking your PDF file. So while password protection is an important first step to securing your document, you may want to think about additional options. Unfortunately, people can share the PDF file along with the password, print it out, or simply copy the content and publish it somewhere else. In reality though, once someone has received your PDF file, the password protection alone can’t stop them from abusing the content.

No one can access or share your internal documents, confidential reports, or commercial proposals without your permission. In theory, once you lock your PDF from editing and set a password to protect it, your content is safe. But while it does give a sense of security, is it truly enough to protect your documents from copying and misusing? PDF is still the most common file format, and password protection is the most common approach to keeping PDF content safe.

Password protect existing pdf files