Remove Restrictions on PDF Files – 2 Methods

“Recently, I found some important notes regarding my college project. I download the file and tried to copy data from it. But, it does not give me permission for content copying. I opened this file using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and checked the Copy option under the file menu, it appears to be greyed out. Also, under the permission details, all listed PDF permissions are not allowed. Does anyone know a simple solution on how to remove restrictions on PDF file? All leads shall be appreciated”

Portable documents i.e. PDF files are digital documents containing the user’s sensitive data. In order to protect files from others, people protect them, either with password security or restrictions. However, there could be print, copy, edit, extract, comment, and sign restrictions added to the Adobe PDF file. But, there are times when a user needs to remove PDF security restrictions if PDF file is protected, in order to perform certain operations on PDF documents.

What are the Security Settings Applied to PDF Documents?

Basically, there are two types of security settings applied to PDF files one is by applying passwords and the other is by adding restrictions.

Open Passwords (Also called User Password):
To restrict someone from accessing your content this type of password is added to the PDF. Without entering this password no one can open a PDF document. Therefore, to access a secured PDF document it is necessary to have this password.

Permission Security (Also called Owner Password):
This type of security restricts particular functionality when the user opens the PDF document. Basically, the file is restricted from copying, printing, editing, commenting, signing, etc. Therefore, it is needed to remove security settings from PDF documents.

How to Check What Security Settings Applied to PDF?

1. Open PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.
2. Click the Padlock icon & click the Permission Details option.
3. In the document menu, several options are listed from which click Security.
4. View Document Restriction Summary.
5. In this summary all the associated permissions with PDF files are present.
6. There are three possibilities of permissions i.e. all are allowed, all are not allowed & some are allowed and not allowed.

How to Remove Restrictions on PDF Files Using Acrobat?

Now, to change document restrictions in PDF it is necessary to follow these steps:

1. Start the Adobe Acrobat Pro application.
2. Open the PDF file & provide a password to view it.
3. After that, click the lock icon on the left side of the window.
4. Next, click “Permission Details” and select the No Security option.
5. Now enter a proper password & Click the OK button.

Note: It is not necessary that everyone is having the full version of Adobe Acrobat Pro application. Many people are also looking for some other application to remove resrictions on PDF files. For this, we have described another desktop utility i.e. Best PDF Password Unlocker. With this application, a user can easily remove security settings from PDF document.

Alternative Approach to Remove Restrictions on PDF Using Automated Tool

Security permissions like copying, changing documents, printing, signing, and document assembly can be removed by the tool without any hassle. The tool does not have any limitation on the size of the PDF file it can change document restrictions in PDF of any size. The tool supports all versions of the Windows operating system including 10 and Mac OS.

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Know-How to Remove Restrictions on PDF in a Most Effective Way

Follow the below steps and disable security settings in the PDF file:

1. Lunch and Run the tool to remove PDF security restrictions.

2. Click Add File(s)/ Add Folder(s) button to select the PDF from which security has to be removed.

3. You can select the Print button if you want to get hard copies.

4. Lastly, click Unlock button to begin the process to remove PDF security restrictions.

Also Read: Explore the Finest Ways to Extract Protected PDF File in Batch

Conclusion

Oftentimes, it happens with users that they try to remove restrictions on PDF files in order to perform certain tasks. So, in this blog post, we have described the method to view associated PDF restrictions as well as solutions to change document restrictions in PDF. Both the manual & automated tools are explained by users who can opt for them according to their convenience.