Choose a PDF and find out whether it is password protected, without uploading it anywhere.
PDFs carry two different passwords. The user (open) password must be typed before the document can be viewed at all. The owner (permissions) password restricts actions like printing, copying or editing while still letting anyone open the file, many 'protected' PDFs that open fine are of this second kind. This checker inspects the document's encryption dictionary directly: its presence means the file is encrypted; the permissions flags inside it show which actions the owner restricted. A library load test then confirms whether the content opens without a password.
If the verdict is 'opens without a password but restricts actions', the on-site Unlock PDF tool can rebuild a clean copy when the file opens freely. If an open password is required, only entering that password (in the unlock tool or a reader) can proceed, there is no legitimate way around it, and this site does not attempt one. The file is examined entirely in the browser.
A PDF opens fine but I cannot copy text, is it protected? Usually yes: an owner password with the copy permission removed. It opens without a password, but the permissions flags forbid extraction. The checker reports exactly this case.
Can this tell me what the password is? No. It detects protection and its type; recovering an unknown password is not something this tool (or any legitimate one) offers.
Is it safe to check confidential PDFs here? The file is read by JavaScript in your browser and never leaves the device, the same guarantee as the site's other PDF tools.