# Dealing with password-protected pdfs **URL:** \ **Category:** Tips\ **Created:** [January 28, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305 "2021-01-28T17:26:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1

**Author:** ![Lear](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Lear](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Lear)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/1 "2021-01-28T17:26:30Z")

When I click on a password protected pdf, DT asks for the password, which is reasonable. But I would love it if there were a way it can remember the password for next time, and better yet if it could OCR and include the text of the pdf in search results. Are those two things possible? ---

**Author:** ![Blanc](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/blanc/32/8008_2.png) [@Blanc](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Blanc)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/2 "2021-01-28T17:34:21Z")

One possible solution is to remove the password protection - the easiest way to do that is to open the PDF, enter the password and then print the PDF to DT. Instead of protecting individual files, my database is encrypted. ---

**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/3 "2021-01-28T17:43:55Z")

Having a password remembered or the contents immediately available defeats the purpose of having a protected PDF. ---

**Author:** ![Blanc](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/blanc/32/8008_2.png) [@Blanc](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Blanc)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/4 "2021-01-28T17:47:49Z")

…which is exactly why I advocate removing it and simply storing the file in a protected database. ---

**Author:** ![Lear](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Lear](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Lear)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/5 "2021-01-28T17:48:21Z")

As Blanc said, the database itself could be protected if security is an issue (it’s not). What I’m dealing with are a bunch of pdfs with silly passwords like “123456” that should have never been password protected. ---

**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/6 "2021-01-28T17:53:39Z")

You have to be clever and use a super strong password like `pASsWorD` 😉 😛 ---

**Author:** ![pete31](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/d26b3c/32.png) [@pete31](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/pete31)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/7 "2021-01-28T17:54:41Z")

> [@Lear](#): > > with silly passwords like “123456” Do they all have the same password? ---

**Author:** ![Lear](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Lear](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Lear)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/8 "2021-01-28T18:15:58Z")

> [@pete31](#): > > Do they all have the same password? practically; there are a couple of passwords that recur ---

**Author:** ![Blanc](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/blanc/32/8008_2.png) [@Blanc](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Blanc)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/9 "2021-01-28T18:23:26Z")

I told you my password in confidence, could you please not post it here again? 🤪 @Lear so simply remove the passwords as I suggested? ---

**Author:** ![pvonk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/pvonk/32/18614_2.png) [@pvonk](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/pvonk)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/10 "2021-01-29T03:16:45Z")

I open my PDF in PDF Expert and choose its command to edit the password (I choose a blank one). After that I can open it in DT without entering a password. I suppose other PDF apps can clear the password as well. (This is on my Mac.) ---

**Author:** ![Lear](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Lear](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Lear)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/dealing-with-password-protected-pdfs/61305/11 "2021-02-01T14:52:30Z")

> [@pvonk](#): > > I open my PDF in PDF Expert and choose its command to edit the password (I choose a blank one). So far this has worked on all documents I tried it on.