Quick and Free Methods to Copy Locked PDF Documents

It is a very common situation followed by millions of PDF users to secure information and privacy with a password. Password is a safeguard to prevent contents from being copied or replaced. However, with so many files that people need to deal with every day, there is a high chance of forgetting passwords and not being able to copy text from secured PDF documents. 

To help you find the best methods to copy locked PDF documents, we’ve selected quick and free tools to remove the coping restriction from any PDF file in this article. 

 Cisdem Password Remover

The Most Professional PDF Unlock Tool

• Remove restrictions of opening, copying or printing from any PDF without damaging the original file
• Unlock secured PDF in batch, up to 200 files can be handled at one time
• Unlock open password and permissions password at high speed
• Just a few steps to remove the password permanently
• Mac and Windows version included

Free Download macOS 10.13 or later Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7

Types of PDF Passwords Protection

Before unlocking your secured PDF documents, you’d better understand the types of password protection. I believe this will help you choose the right unlocking tool faster. Password protection is divided into 2 types: Open password and Permissions Password. Below I will explain the difference for you in detail.

Open Password
Open Password is also named “User Password”. Some highly confidential documents use this password more often, such as documents containing bank information, tax information, personal data, or business contracts signed between companies. If a PDF document is secured with a Open Password, any user who intends to open it must enter the specified and correct password set by the creator. 

Permissions Password
Permissions Password is also known as “Master Password”, “Owner Password” or “Restriction Password”. It allows you to prevent unauthorized users from editing, copying, and printing the document. During this process, separate PDF passwords can be created to change the file’s security settings. Moreover, an owner password is often easier to remove than a user password.

Copy Locked PDF Documents with the Best PDF Unlock Tool

Locking PDF documents with a password can help users to protect privacy. However, there is also some inconvenience when users forget the password. We don’t recommend you to open or unlock any encrypted PDF document without permission of the creator as it’s immoral or illegal. But if you have forgotten the password of your PDF or want to remove unknown password from PDF for free, we can tell you how easy it is. 

Cisdem PDF Password Remover is a powerful unlock tool that ensures users to remove open password or permissions password from secured files without losing quality of original files. It supports batch process and up to 200 files can be processed at one time. Import your locked files into Cisdem PDF Password Remover and get rid of all restrictions from opening file, copying text or printing PDF with just a click.

How to Copy Text from Secured PDF Without Password?

1. Download and install Cisdem PDF Password Remover with Windows or Mac version.
   Free Download macOS 10.13 or later Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
2. Drag and drop the secured PDF files to the interface or add them by clicking “Add Files”.
3. Unlock Permissions Password:
   Click “Remove” in the bottom right to unlock your file if it is secured with the permissions password. 
4. Remove Open Password:

• If your file is locked by an open password and you know the password, enter the password and click “OK”.
• If you have forgotten the open password, click the “Forgot?” button.
• Provide clues for the open-password-protected PDF to accelerate the decryption speed.
• Click “Decrypt” and your file will be decrypted in seconds.
• Once the lock icon disappeared, click “Remove” to strip all the security settings.
  Then you can freely copy text from the unlocked PDF document.

Tips for you:
If you have multiple files to decrypt, you can try to upload multiple files at once to save time. Additionally, the more accurate clues you provide when you unlock a user-password-protected PDF, the faster your file can be decrypted. Try to tick the information that meets the password conditions, such as password length, whether it contains lowercase, uppercase Latin letters, numbers, special symbols, etc.

Copy Locked PDF Documents Using Google Chrome for Free

Assuming that your PDF document is only restricted from copying, and there is no other password encryption, Google Chrome is the most convenient assistant to help you copy the locked PDF document. Chrome is not just a browser, its printing function can solve some of the little troubles you encounter when dealing with PDF documents.

Here are the steps to copy locked PDF documents using Google Chrome:

1. Head to Preview > Open With > Google Chrome.
2. Choose the “Print” button in the top-right corner of the browser.
3. Click “Save” to create a new PDF document without password restriction.

Tips:
This method is only applicable to files that are restricted from copying. If an open password or a print password is set, you need to enter the password to operate. After saving a PDF file without a password, you can copy or edit the text arbitrarily with a professional PDF editor like Cisdem PDFMaster.

Copy Protected PDF Documents with Online Website for Free

When you only have to deal with individual files, do you want to copy protected PDF documents without downloading any software? Online free password removers will ride to the rescue, unlocking secured PDF documents easily as long as you can go online. By the way, if the password set for the file is too complex, the online websites may take a long time to unlock or fail to unlock. Of the various online free PDF unlock tools, we choose PDF Candy and pdfforge.

#1 PDF Candy

While free PDF online websites are easy to find, free PDF editors online with advanced features are infrequent. PDF Candy is a feature-rich PDF editor which covers different attractive services like unlocking PDF, protecting PDF, converting PDF, adding signature or watermark on PDF, OCR capability, etc. Its unlock feature allows you to copy locked PDF documents in just a few clicks even if you forget your password.

How does it work?

1. Go to PDF Candy > All PDF Tools > Unlock PDF.
2. Add your locked files from the local device, Google Drive or Dropbox.
3. Click “Unlock PDF” button instantly to try to remove the password automatically.
4. Choose “Download file” or save it on your cloud.

Tips:
Unlocking open password without entering the correct password is something that most free sites can’t do. The website can not only decrypt the permissions password, but also remove the open password, whether you remember the password or not. However, the site also has some usage restrictions: only 1 task per 1 hour limit for unregistered visitors. It means you can only remove the limit by signing up.

#2 pdfforge

Removing password is just a small function of pdfforge. Besides that, you can edit, convert and organize your PDF file with this multi-functional website. Suppose you want to copy a locked PDF into Word, the unlocking and conversion functions of pdfforge can help you easily achieve it, eliminating the need to use a variety of software. 

Follow the steps to copy protected PDF documents with pdfforge for free:

1. Choose “Remove password from PDF” on the interface.
2. Click on “Choose file” or drag and drop the file that you want to remove the password. 
3. The tool will remove the password directly after you upload the file.
4. You can now download the file and copy the text from it freely.

Tips:
If the uploaded file is locked by an open password, you need to enter the correct password by yourself before removing it. In addition, the site can upload up to 250MB of files at once, which can meet the needs of the vast majority of people.

In Summary

Whether it is about copying locked PDF documents with software or free online, we’ve provided the best tool to help you unlock a secured PDF. If copying locked PDF documents is a rare task for you, using an online free unlock tool is a great choice for you. However, most websites cannot unlock open passwords without inputting passwords, and there are limitations on file size or usage times, which are not friendly to users who need to use PDF for a long time. We highly recommend Cisdem PDF Password Remover, as it is a professional and fast unlock tool.