Protect PDF
Add a password and control what people can do.
How to use Protect PDF
- Add your PDF Drop in the document you want to protect.
- Set a password Choose something you will remember — we cannot recover it if it is lost.
- Choose permissions Decide whether readers may print, copy text or add comments.
- Download Your protected PDF now asks for the password every time it is opened.
This tool isn't available yet
Protect PDF runs on our file-processing service, which is still being set up. Rather than have you upload a file we know we cannot process, we have turned the upload off.
These work right now
They run entirely in your browser, so nothing is uploaded at all.
Protect PDF encrypts your document with AES-256 — the same standard used for banking and government files — and asks for a password before the PDF will open at all.
What the permissions really do
Beyond the open password, a PDF carries flags that tell viewers what a reader is allowed to do: print, copy text, add comments. Well-behaved software honours them. It is worth being clear-eyed about this: permissions are a courtesy that compliant readers respect, not a hard technical barrier. The open password is the real protection — without it, the file contents cannot be decrypted at all.
Choosing a password
Length beats complexity. A short phrase you will actually remember is stronger than eight random characters you will write on a note. And send it through a different channel than the file itself — emailing a protected PDF and its password in the same message defeats the point entirely.
Frequently asked questions
Can GiniTool recover my password if I forget it?
No, and nobody else can either. AES-256 has no back door. Keep the password somewhere safe before you send the file.
How strong is the encryption?
AES-256, the current standard. The practical weak point is always the password itself, not the algorithm.
Does GiniTool keep a copy of my password?
No. It is used once, in memory, to encrypt the file, and is never written to disk or logged.