The Microsoft Print to PDF feature in Windows 11 allows users to save documents and pictures as PDF files without having to use additional tools.
While sharing PDF files with others or saving them on your PC, you might want to password-protect them, especially when a PDF file contains crucial information. How do we add password protection to a PDF file in Windows 11?
Although Windows 11 does not offer a built-in option to password-protect a PDF file, there are free and paid tools that can help you password-protect a PDF file.
The following are three easy ways to password-protect a PDF file on a Windows 11 PC.
Method 1 of 3
Use Office Word to password-protect a PDF file in Windows 11
The Office Word is not free software. However, it’s one of the most commonly installed apps. If you do not have one, refer to other methods.
Step 1: Right-click the PDF file that you want to protect with a password, click Open with, and then click Word to open the PDF file with the Word app. If the Word entry does not exist, click the Choose another app option and check if it’s available there.
If you cannot see the Word entry even after clicking the Choose another app option, run the Word program using Start/taskbar search, click File > Open and then select the PDF file, and then click Open.
Step 2: When you get the following prompt, click the OK button to let the Word app convert the PDF file to an editable Word document.
Step 3: Next, if you see the Protected View banner (generally appears for files downloaded from the internet), click the Enable Editing button.
Click the OK button when you get the prompt.
Step 4: Click the File menu and then click Save As.
Step 5: Here, click Browse to see the Save As dialog.
Step 6: Type a name for the PDF file, select the PDF option from the Save as type drop-down (refer to the image below).
Step 7: Now, click the Options button. Select the Encrypt the document with a password option before clicking the OK button.
Step 8: Enter and reenter the password that you would like to assign to the PDF file before clicking the OK button.
Step 9: Finally click the Save button to save the password protected PDF file. That’s it!
From now on, the PDF file will require a password to open.
Please note that the original PDF file will not require a password. Only the newly saved PDF file is password-protected. So, you may delete the original file after ensuring that the new PDF file opens fine.
Method 2 of 3
Use Adobe online service (free) to password-protect a PDF file in Windows 11
NOTE: This method requires uploading your PDF to Adobe servers. So, proceed only if you are comfortable with it.
Step 1: Visit this page of Adobe in a web browser of your choice.
Step 2: Click the Select a file button, browse to the PDF file on your PC, select it, and then click the Open button to upload it to Adobe servers.
Step 3: Next, when you see the following page, type and retype a password that you would like to assign to protect the PDF file.
Click the Set password button.
Step 4: The Adobe service might take a few seconds to password-protect the PDF file. Once done, you will be offered a download button.
Click the Download button to download the password-protected PDF file to your PC. That’s it! You may now try to open the password-protected PDF file on your PC.
Method 3 of 3
Use PDFgear to add password protection to a PDF file in Windows 11
Step 1: Download and install the free version of PDFgear software.
The PDFgear free version not only supports adding password protection to PDF files but also allows opening and converting PDFs to Word, Excel, PPT, and several other file types. It’s one of the best free tools out there to manage PDF files on a PC.
Step 2: Open the PDF file that you want to password-protect with the PDFgear app.
Step 3: Once the PDF file is open in the PDFgear app, click the Tools tab.
Step 4: Click Password to see the Set Password dialog box.
Step 5: Enter the password and then reenter the password that you would like to use to protect the PDF file.
Click the OK button.
Step 6: When you get the following message, click the OK button. That message warns that the password protection will only be applied only after you save the PDF file.
Step 7: Simultaneously press Ctrl and S keys (Ctrl + S) to save the changes. You may close the PDFgear now. Alternatively, you can click the Save icon in the toolbar. That’s it!
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