Pagecraft

unlock

Unlock PDF

Remove the password from a document you can already open.

Reads
a PDF — application/pdf
Writes
one file — PDFs
Tool page
/unlock-pdf

Example

Take the password off a document you have the password for.

Given

  • locked.pdf — a PDF encrypted with a password of 2 pages

From code

            import { loadDocument, runOperation } from '@pagecraft/core';

const locked = await loadDocument({ bytes, name: 'locked.pdf' });

const [output] = await runOperation('unlock', [locked], {
  password: 'correct horse battery staple',
});

From a shell

            pagecraft unlock locked.pdf --password 'correct horse battery staple'

What comes back

One PDF of 2 pages.

This example is run by the test suite. If it stopped being true, the build would fail.

Options

password--password

string

Password

The password you use to open the document. Leave it empty for a document that opens by itself and only forbids printing or copying, or for one this application has already opened with it.

A secret: never shown as it is typed, never remembered, and never written into a URL, a log or a shell history.

What it cannot do

  • Unlocking needs the password. Pagecraft cannot break, guess or recover one, and does not try.
  • The password is used here, on this device, and is never sent anywhere or kept.