How to password protect a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat

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The steps below detail how to password protect a PDF using Adobe Acrobat.

  1. Open the PDF document in Adobe Acrobat
  2. In the right-hand menu, expand ‘Protection’, then click on ‘Encrypt’ then ‘Encrypt with Password’
  3. Acrobat-EncryptGreyedOut3
  4. If your ‘Encrypt with Password’ option is greyed out, see Adobe Acrobat – Unable to encrypt – password greyed out.
  5. Place a tick next to ‘Require a password to open the document’ and enter a password under ‘Document Open Password’
  6. Acrobat-EncryptPDF1
  7. Click ‘OK’ and enter the password again.
  8. Save the document.
  9. Now when the document is opened you will be prompted to enter a password before being able to see the contents.
  10. Acrobat-EncryptPDF2