3 Simple Ways to Copy a Secured PDF

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Rain Kengly. Rain Kengly is a wikiHow Technology Writer. As a storytelling enthusiast with a penchant for technology, they hope to create long-lasting connections with readers from all around the globe. Rain graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Cinema.

This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.

This article has been viewed 223,888 times.

Do you want to copy text from a password-protected PDF document? When a PDF is edit-locked with a password, you'll be unable to copy the text in most PDF viewers. If a PDF is secured with a server-based security policy, you will most likely not be able to bypass the security unless given permission by the admin. However, if you know the password and have proper permissions, you'll be able to open the document and create a new, unsecured PDF. Avoid using third-party PDF unlock tools as this can put your secured PDF at risk. This wikiHow will teach you how to copy text from a secured PDF file on your PC or Mac computer.