Here is the important distinction most articles on this topic blur: a PDF can be locked two different ways. An open password means you need a password just to view the file at all — that is real encryption, and no free browser tool can remove it without knowing that password. An owner restriction (sometimes called a permissions password) means the file opens and displays fine, but printing, copying text, or editing is disabled. That second kind is what this tool — and most free "password remover" tools — can actually strip out, no password required.
Smallpdf, iLovePDF, and Sejda all offer similar restriction-removal tools, gated behind daily task limits or file-size caps on their free tiers. Smallpdf caps free users at two tasks a day. iLovePDF adds a 20MB file-size limit on top of that. Sejda gives three tasks per hour but caps files at 50MB and 50 pages. Adobe Acrobat Pro has no limits but costs $240 a year.
Truly Free PDF Tools removes owner restrictions from your PDFs with no daily cap and no file-size limit beyond what your browser's memory can hold. Because it runs locally, your file never leaves your computer. It cannot, however, decrypt a PDF that actually requires a password to open — no honest client-side tool can, since that would mean bypassing real encryption without the key.
Smallpdf, iLovePDF, Adobe: Comparing the Options
Smallpdf's restriction remover doesn't watermark output, and the free tier works — but it's capped at two tasks per day. If you have a folder of ten restricted PDFs, that's five days, or a $12/month plan.
iLovePDF has a similar limit: two free tasks per day, plus a 20MB file size cap. A scanned document with images can easily exceed that. Their premium plan ($48/year) removes the cap. Adobe Acrobat Pro has no daily limits but costs $240 a year.
Sejda is more generous: three tasks per hour, 50MB limit, 50-page limit. Like every tool in this category, Sejda's remover only works on owner-restricted PDFs — it cannot remove a real open password without knowing it, same as everyone else.
Avoid sketchy sites like "PDFunlock.com" that claim to remove any password for free. Uploading a file to an unknown server means you don't know if a copy gets kept. Any tool that runs in your browser, including this one, avoids that risk entirely — nothing leaves your device.
Step-by-Step: Remove Restrictions from a PDF
This works only on PDFs that already open without a password but have printing/editing/copying disabled. It cannot help with a PDF that requires a password just to open.
1. Go to trulyfreetools.com/remove-pdf-password. The tool loads instantly. No account, no sign-up.
2. Upload your PDF. Drag and drop or click to browse. The file stays on your device — nothing is uploaded anywhere.
3. Click "Remove Password." The tool checks whether the file is genuinely encrypted. If it only has owner-level restrictions, it rebuilds the PDF without them in about a second. If the PDF is truly password-encrypted, the tool tells you honestly that it can't process it — it won't pretend to succeed.
4. Download the result. If the file processed successfully, click download. The original file on your computer is untouched.
5. Repeat as needed. There's no daily limit and no file counter.
Why Truly Free PDF Tools Is Actually Free
The business model is display advertising on the homepage and blog — nothing on the tool pages themselves.
The technical reason it's free: it wraps pdf-lib, an open-source library, to strip owner-restriction dictionaries from a PDF's structure. That's a structural edit, not decryption — pdf-lib doesn't implement AES or RC4 decryption, so this tool has no way to touch a PDF whose content is genuinely encrypted. Costs stay near zero because there's no server-side processing involved.
Privacy is a real advantage regardless: uploading a file to a random website means sending them the file and potentially exposing whatever it contains to their servers, even if only temporarily. With this tool, everything stays in your browser.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you remove a password from a PDF if you forgot the password?
No. And anyone who says they can is lying or trying to install malware on your computer. PDF encryption is strong. Brute-forcing a 10-character password would take thousands of years. If you forgot the password to open a PDF, the file is gone forever. Sorry.
Does this tool remove passwords from PDFs that require a password to open?
No. This tool cannot decrypt a PDF that genuinely requires a password to open — that would require actually knowing the password and running real decryption, neither of which this browser-based tool does. It only works on PDFs that already open with no password but have owner-level restrictions (printing/editing/copying locked).
Is it safe to upload a PDF to your tool?
You are not uploading anything. The tool runs locally in your browser. The file never leaves your computer.
What is the maximum file size for restriction removal?
Your browser's memory limit, typically a few hundred MB depending on your device. There is no artificial cap like iLovePDF's 20MB free limit.
Why does Smallpdf limit free users to two password removals per day?
Because they want you to pay. Two tasks per day is enough for a demo but not enough for regular use.
Can this tool remove PDFs encrypted with Adobe's 256-bit AES?
No. This tool uses pdf-lib, which does not implement AES or RC4 decryption at all — it can load a PDF's structure while ignoring the fact that an encryption dictionary is present, but it cannot decrypt the actual content streams. If the PDF's content is genuinely AES-encrypted, this tool cannot process it, regardless of whether you know the password.
Try the restriction remover now. If your PDF opens fine but won't let you print or copy text, this takes about a second. No account, no limit.
