How to Remove Password Protection from PDF on Mac in Multiple Ways?

In most Mac forums, we can see that there are too many Mac users ask about how to remove password protection from PDF on Mac with free tricks or PDF Password Remover for Mac:

Actually, many PDF users prefer to directly manipulate their PDF files, instead of repeatedly inputting the password to remove restrictions from secure PDF for further actions like editing, copying, printing.

If you are a regular PDF user on Mac, I guess you are working on PDF with Adobe Acrobat and Preview. Here in this tutorial, I will show you several productive ways to remove PDF password protection on Mac using these tools in your hand, which is very commonly overlooked by most users.

1. Using a Dedicated PDF Password Remover for Mac

There are numerous apps available to remove protected PDF password, the Cisdem PDF Password Remover is the one on the top of my list. It is not only designed to helps users directly remove the password and restrictions from PDF, but also enables users to unlock PDF on mac even when they forgot the user password to open it. No matter your file is added with an owner password or user password, Cisdem PDF password Remover, with its intuitive interface and versatile function, will be your professional assistant in this field.

1. Download and Install the PDF Password Remover for Mac.
   It is stand-alone application with a high compatibility with Adobe readers, also it is small in size and won’t clutter your Mac.
2. Import Password-Protected PDF Files to Remove Password from PDF on Mac.
   Drag&Drop PDF files or directly add files as it instructs into the main interface. It supports batch removing password from PDFs.
3. One Click to Remove Password from PDF on Mac Instantly.
   Once you have added the encrypted PDF into Cisdem PDF Password Remover, click "Remove", you will get an equivalent PDF without and restrictions, and the secured pdf is unlocked.

Useful Tip 1:
If there is a lock icon appearing with your PDF, it indicates your PDF is user password protected from opening. Click the lock icon, either enter the user password if you know or directly decrypt the password if you forgot it.

Useful Tip 2:

Go to the settings as follows. You can check or fill in the above options like, password length, additional characters, etc. By doing so, you will save a lot of decryption time.

Once your user password is decrypted, you can continue to remove securities by following previous steps.

Here I also list the following alternative PDF password remover on mac for our PDF users to have a try:

l Guapdf

l Istonsoft PDF Password Remover

l Ahead PDF Password Remover

2. Using Adobe Acrobat to Remove Password from PDF on Mac

Speaking of PDF, Adobe always comes first into our mind, for the reason that PDF was a proprietary format controlled by Adobe and later officially released as an open standard.So, Adobe Acrobat, as a matter of course, is a good PDF password remover to get protected files unlocked. Let's see how to unlock PDF file on mac with password!

1st Open the password protected PDF with Adobe Reader
(If there is an open password, enter it to open the file)

2nd Click the Secure button as following, then choose Remove Security from the drop-down list

You will be requested to enter the permission password to remove the security from pdf on mac.

If you purchased the Acrobat Pro, you can even remove security from protected documents in batch!

For your information, this method only works when you know the PDF password. IF YOU FORGOT OR LOST THE PDF PASSWORD, find a PDF Unlocker.

3. Manually Using Preview to Remove Password Protection from PDF on Mac

Step 1. Open the password-protected PDF document with Preview, you will be asked to enter the password.

Step 2. Go to “File” and choose “Save as”.

Step 3.Save the document in PDF format and leave the option “Encrypt” unchecked. The password of your PDF is removed!

But if you are going to live with PDF files and want to boost your productivity, or you forget your PDF password, I recommend you to invest in a third-party app like Cisdem PDF Password Remover for Mac to remove the PDF password.