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Enter a password
Choose a strong password and keep it somewhere safe — we cannot recover forgotten ones.
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Password-protect a PDF in your browser before you email tax forms or contracts. Encryption runs on-device; we never see the password.
PDFProcessed privately in your browser — files are not uploaded.
Protect never transmits your password or file contents to SortMyFile.
Choose a strong password and keep it somewhere safe — we cannot recover forgotten ones.
Share the PDF and send the password on a separate channel.
Encrypt with a password — A colleague sent a multi-part PDF and you only need a subset for a meeting pack. A portal rejects the file shape and you must fix it without desktop Acrobat.
Protect PDF is built for private, in-browser work. Upload-based PDF sites often store temporary copies on someone else’s disk; SortMyFile’s default is the opposite — processing stays on your device for this utility. Protect never transmits your password or file contents to SortMyFile. If a step needs a one-time language pack or WASM library from a CDN, that is asset delivery — not your document contents being sent to SortMyFile for server-side processing. Close the tab when you are done if you want memory cleared.
Encrypt with a password. Before you run Protect PDF, keep an original copy of every source file. Spot-check the download on the same device you will use for the portal or email. Large scans and phone photos are limited by browser RAM — if a run stalls, shrink the input first or split the job. SortMyFile browser tools stay free forever with no daily caps.
Encrypt with a password — A colleague sent a multi-part PDF and you only need a subset for a meeting pack. A portal rejects the file shape and you must fix it without desktop Acrobat. People reach for Protect PDF when a form, HR desk, or messaging app rejects the current file shape, size, or format and installing desktop software is overkill. Pair it with unlock-pdf, redact-pdf, sign-pdf-online when you need a short pipeline (for example compress then OCR, or HEIC to JPG then JPG to PDF). Results are not a substitute for official portal rules — always re-read the receiving site’s instructions before a deadline.
Protect PDF trades convenience for honesty about browser limits. Extremely large files, corrupted inputs, or DRM-protected media can fail. Password-protected PDFs need a password you already know — SortMyFile does not crack encryption. Free use does not require an account; Pro (when checkout ships) is planned to raise limits and reduce ads. Until then, the free tier is enough for most one-off private jobs.
Common questions
Yes — we use a browser encrypt library. Strength depends on your password.
No. Unlock only works when you already know it.
Yes — download a new file and keep the source on disk as backup. (Protect PDF.)
After the app shell and libraries are cached by your browser, many PDF tools keep working offline for that session.
Aim under ~50–100 MB depending on device RAM. Very large scans may stall older phones.
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