PDF Unlock & Repair
Remove a known password, or repair a PDF that won't open
We'll use the password you enter to remove the password protection.
Only used to unlock this one file — never stored.
Up to 200 MB. Files are deleted from the server within 30 minutes.
⚠️ Please don't close or refresh this page until it's done, or you may lose the result.
💡 Upload speed depends on your own network, not our servers — a slow connection just means the bar moves slower. It'll keep going; no need to retry or worry about being charged twice.
Frequently asked questions
Can this crack a password I don't know?⌄
No — this only removes protection from a file when you already know its password (for example, a PDF you password-protected yourself and want to edit more easily). It does not attempt to guess or crack unknown passwords.
What kind of "corrupted" files can be repaired?⌄
Files with a damaged or missing cross-reference table are the most fixable case — very common after an interrupted download or a buggy export. Severely truncated or overwritten files may not be recoverable.
Is my file or password kept on the server?⌄
No — the password is used only in memory to process this one job and is never stored, and both the upload and the result are deleted automatically within 30 minutes.
How it works
- 1
Drop in the PDF, and tell us whether it's password-protected or corrupted.
- 2
For a password-protected file, enter the password you already know.
- 3
Download the unlocked or repaired PDF. Files auto-delete in 30 minutes.
Owner-approved unlocking with repair built in
Remove permission locks from PDFs you may open — and auto-repair damaged cross-reference tables in the same pass.
Unlock or Repair
One tool, two modes: remove a password you know, or rebuild a PDF that shows a corrupted message after a failed download or interrupted save.
Real Protections Removed
qpdf strips the password server-side, so the result opens freely in any reader and can be edited, printed and shared like a normal PDF.
Damaged Files Rebuilt
Ghostscript reconstructs the damaged file structure of broken PDFs, recovering documents that other readers simply refuse to open at all.
Two failure modes this tool handles
- Permission lock (owner password) — print/copy restrictions strip after you prove access; DRM for protected books is intentionally out of scope.
- Open password (user password) — required input; nothing is brute-forced, ever.
- Damaged file — repair mode rebuilds broken xref tables and recovers pages from orphaned objects.
Output keeps bookmarks and links where the source still has them; files delete right after the job finishes.
Related tools
What Is PDF Unlocking and Repair?
This tool does two related jobs in one place. First, it removes password protection from a PDF you own and know the password for — after processing, the file opens freely in any reader and can be edited, printed, and shared like a normal PDF. Second, it repairs PDFs that will not open at all: files that show a corrupted or damaged message after a failed download, an interrupted save, or a flaky email transfer. Real qpdf and Ghostscript run on our servers to rebuild the file structure. This tool is billed in credits: every run charges a small number from your account balance. Both modes report a clear result either way, so you always know whether the file came through.
What this tool can do
- 🔓 Unlock mode removes a known password so the PDF opens without one
- 🩹 Repair mode rebuilds the internal structure of a corrupted or unreadable PDF
- 🔧 Repair first tries qpdf's fast reconstruction, falling back to a lenient Ghostscript re-distill
- 🧪 The password you provide is used once during processing and never stored
- 🔁 Credits are returned automatically on failure
When you'll use it
- 🔐 Open your own older document whose password you know but no longer need
- 🚚 Fix a PDF that arrives corrupted after a broken download or email transfer
- 📂 Remove protection before running a document through other tools in this library
- 🗄️ Make a protected archive file readable for long-term storage
Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection to our server, processed, and automatically deleted afterward — nothing is retained. The honest limit: protection is removed only when you provide the correct password — the tool cannot recover forgotten passwords or break unknown ones, and repairing a severely damaged file may recover most, but not necessarily every, page. Every run charges credits; if the job fails, they are refunded automatically.