CornerTools

Unlock PDF

Remove the password from a PDF you can open, such as an Aadhaar, bank statement or payslip, on your device.

Drop PDFs here, or

Your files never leave your device

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A PDF that asks for a password to open needs that password here too. One that only restricts printing, copying or editing unlocks without a password.

Saves a copy of a password-protected PDF that opens without the password: an e-Aadhaar to upload to a portal that rejects locked files, a bank statement to send to an accountant, a payslip to keep without looking the password up each time. You enter the password once. The tool does not find or guess passwords; for a PDF that only restricts printing, copying or editing, none is needed. The PDF is unlocked on your device and never uploaded.

How to use it

Add one or more PDFs. Each that needs a password to open asks for it in its own row; Show password shows what you typed. A wrong password is refused and you can try again, as often as you like. Then Unlock PDF saves each file without its password, named after the original, as in statement-unlocked.pdf.

The result says how each PDF was encrypted (AES-256, AES-128 or the older RC4) and which restrictions it carried, such as printing or copying text. The pages themselves are not changed: text, images, form fields, links and bookmarks are as they were.

A PDF with neither a password nor restrictions has nothing to remove, and the tool says so as soon as it opens. A PDF locked to a certificate instead of a password cannot be opened here.

The e-Aadhaar password

UIDAI's examples of e-Aadhaar passwords
Name on AadhaarYear of birthPassword
SURESH KUMAR1990SURE1990
SAI KUMAR1990SAIK1990
P. KUMAR1990P.KU1990
RIA1990RIA1990

Where the e-Aadhaar password comes from

UIDAI sets the password of every e-Aadhaar PDF: the first four letters of the name as printed on the Aadhaar, in capitals, followed by the year of birth as four digits. The table above holds UIDAI's own examples: a space in the name is skipped (SAI KUMAR gives SAIK), a dot is kept (P. KUMAR gives P.KU), and a name shorter than four letters is used whole (RIA).

UIDAI also states that an e-Aadhaar is digitally signed. The signature covers the file as issued, so it no longer verifies in the unlocked copy; the tool says so when you add the file. Keep the original for any use that checks the signature.

Sources

Reviewed

Frequently asked questions

Whoever issued the PDF sets it, and the rule differs from one bank or employer to the next. It is normally given in the email or message the PDF came with, or on the issuer's website. This tool cannot work it out.
No. A PDF that needs a password to open is encrypted with it, and the tool does not guess or break passwords. The exception is a PDF that opens normally but will not print, copy or edit: that one has only an owner password, which restricts what PDF readers allow and is not needed to read the file, so it unlocks without one.
Only in that it is no longer encrypted. The pages, text, images, form fields and bookmarks are the same, and nothing is compressed or re-saved at a lower quality. A digital signature, if the PDF has one, stops verifying, since it covers the encrypted original.
No. Your browser reads, unlocks and saves the files on your device; they are not sent to CornerTools or anyone else, and neither is a password you type. To check, open the browser's developer tools at the Network tab and add a PDF: no request carries it. The PDF engine downloads from this site the first time you use it: a download to your browser, not an upload of your file.

See also

  • Compress PDF — to bring the unlocked PDF under a portal's size limit.
  • Merge PDF — to join it with other documents into one PDF; it also takes password-protected PDFs directly.
  • Protect PDF — to add a password of your own.
  • PDF Editor — to change text, fill in the form or sign the unlocked PDF.