Adobe Acrobat offers creators of PDF files options to secure files with password protection. If someone sends you a PDF file that is protected by a password, you will need the password to unlock the PDF file for viewing. Keep in mind that if someone has sent you a password-protected file, there likely is a reason for it. Attempting to unlock the file without requesting the password from the creator could involve you in a criminal or civil legal situation for violating security standards. It is no different from breaking into a locked home to look around; you have violated the law according to the Stored Communications Act.
Instructions
1. Contact the PDF document creator and request the password for the PDF file. The only way to reliably open a secure PDF file is with the correct password. The market offers a wide range of software products claiming to crack PDF passwords; however, the majority of such products either do not work or compromise the integrity of the document so that once you open it, you cannot decipher the original contents.
2. Click on the PDF file to open it. The PDF will open but will not display the content. Rather, you will get a dialog box asking for the document's password.
3. Input the password into the dialog box. Click the "OK" button to submit the password and view the document.
Tags: open will, unlock file