Free PDF Password Remover

by Angelina Adelaide web designer

Do you want to edit protected PDF files? If you want to edit the encrypted PDF files, you will need to remove the password and restriction of the pdf files first.

Recommend:PDF Password Remover Mac and PDF Password Remover which can remove protected PDF password and restrictions on Mac os x with ease. Just two simple steps, Mac users can remove, unlock or crack password from encrypted PDF documents with high quality and fast speed. Then you can convert, edit, copy or print PDF files on Mac.

PDFCrack is the best free PDF password recovery tool available, assuming - an actual password "recovery" and not a simple PDF password removal or reset.

Method: PDFCrack would be considered a true PDF password recovery program since it recovers both the user password and owner password from encrypted PDFs. PDFCrack uses a brute-force password recovery method.

Limits: PDFCrack works with PDF files up to version 1.6 with 128-bit RC4 encryption.

My Test: PDFCrack recovered the 4-digit owner password on a version 1.6 PDF file with 128-bit RC4 encryption in two minutes. A longer and/or more complicated PDF password could take days, weeks, or even longer to recover.

If all you need is a way to bypass the permissions security in a PDF then PDFCrack is probably more than you need in a PDF password cracker. However, if you need to know the actual owner or user password, PDFCrack is your best bet.

PDFCrack is a command-line tool and should work on Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, including both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

GuaPDF, sometimes referred to as Guaranteed PDF Decrypter, is a combination PDF password remover/recovery tool. GuaPDF is easy to use and doesn't even require installation.

Method: GuaPDF is primarily a PDF password remover tool for the owner password but can also be used as a PDF password recovery tool for 40-bit encrypted user passwords.

Limits: GuaPDF works with PDF files up to version 1.7 level 3 even with 256-bit AES encryption. However, GuaPDF will only decrypt PDF files at higher levels of version 1.7 if the encryption is at 128-bit AES.

My Test: GuaPDF removed the security on a version 1.7 level 8 PDF file with 128-bit AES encryption instantly.

I recommend that you pick GuaPDF as your PDF password cracker if you have a small PDF with only owner restrictions, which is probably the most common situation. If you need to recover the owner password, try PDFCrack instead.

GuaPDF works on 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, and most Windows server operating systems as well.

Important: Including "demo" software in a list of freeware programs might seem wrong but the GuaPDF demo is fully functional for small files - it doesn't watermark or pretend to remove the password. Considering that it works across almost all PDF versions and encryption levels, something not found in most other true freeware PDF password removers, I couldn't skip on including GuaPDF here.