Removing the password from a PDF file

https://mupdf.com/downloads/index.html

I tried the Win32 pdfclean binary for MuPDF 0.5: https://web.archive.org/web/20191119070425/https://mupdf.com/downloads/archive/mupdf-0.5-win32.zip

I was able to remove the password without having to know the source password.

pdfclean clean protected.pdf pdfwithnopassword.pdf

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MuPDF, available for at least Windows and macOS (via Homebrew) has a free command line tool called mutool. I personally used it to remove the password on my American Express statement and merge all my separate PDF statements into one giant PDF. The command line is: mutool clean protected.pdf pdfnopassword.pdf

You can try Easy Pdf Password Remover Free. Other alternatives are:

• PDF Password Remover (freeware)
• PDF Unlocker (freeware)

If none of the above worked for you, have a look at this page: 7 easy ways to unlock a PDF file.

NOTE: If you have Adobe Acrobat (not the free Acrobat Reader), you can remove the passwords from File > Document Security > Security Options by selecting No Security.

With A-PDF Restrictions Remover, you can remove the password and other restrictions in a few seconds.

A-PDF Restrictions Remover is shareware ($10), try before you buy.