How to Print a Password-protected PDF File

There are two types of secured PDFs: one with an open password to control who can view it, and another with a permission password that limits editing, copying, or printing.

You can’t print a PDF with an open password unless you first enter the password. While there are tools claiming to unlock PDFs, they often don’t work and may be illegal to use without permission.

If your PDF is only restricted from printing, you can follow the method below to bypass that restriction.

Print a Secured PDF for Free with PDFgear

When you open a read-only PDF in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome, you can view the content but may find the Print button unavailable.

With PDFgear, you can easily unlock the read-only mode and freely edit, copy, modify, or print the document. Download and install PDFgear, then follow the steps to print the locked PDF.

Step 1. Open the locked PDF with PDFgear

Use PDFgear to open the locked PDF which has print restriction.

This tool will directly remove printing or editing restrictions, but make sure you have proper authorization to print the document.

After the PDF file opened in PDFgear, you can see the printer icon is available, and you can also edit the text in this PDF.

Step 2. Print a Locked PDF

Locate and click the ‘Print’ icon in the top menu bar or use the shortcut Ctrl+P (Windows) or Command+P (Mac). This will open the printer menu.

Step 3. Customize the Print Settings

Choose your printer and adjust the print settings as needed (e.g., number of copies, color, or black and white). Then, click the ‘Print’ button to print the locked PDF document.

Print a Locked PDF Online Free

For those who don’t want to download software, PDFgear also provides online services to unlock PDFs with printing passwords.

There’s no need to sign up with an email address. You can remove copying and printing restrictions from a PDF in just a few seconds, completely free.

Step 1. Navigate to the PDFgear online PDF unlocker and open the PDF you can’t print.

Step 2. PDFgear will automatically remove the printing lock from your PDF file and provide an unlocked version.

Step 3. Click the download button to save the new PDF. You can now print it with any printer or copy text directly from the PDF.

Print a Protected PDF Using Screenshots

If you can open and view the PDF but forgot the password to remove print restrictions, PDFgear offers another solution. You can use a screenshot tool to capture the open PDF and then print it.

For multi-page PDFs, you may need to take multiple screenshots and combine the images into a single PDF for printing.

Step 1. Open the PDF document using any PDF reader, like PDFgear, that allows viewing, even if printing restrictions are not present.

Step 2. Use the PDF snipping tool in PDFgear to capture the displayed page.

Step 3. Open the screenshots in an image editor to crop or adjust as needed.

This step is optional but can help improve the printout by removing unnecessary parts, like the PDF reader’s interface.

Step 4. Print the screenshots using the default image viewer on your device, like Photos on Windows.

Ensure printer settings are adjusted to your preferences.

Note: This method results in lower quality and should be used for unofficial purposes only.

FAQs

How do I print a PDF that is not allowed to print?

This article offers you two working methods: one is to use PDFgear to open and print the PDF directly, and the other is to print the PDF by taking screenshots.

How do I convert secured PDF to regular PDF?

PDFgear is a free PDF editor that can help you unlock the printing, copying, or editing restriction of a secured PDF. Download PDFgear and try it.

How do I print and edit a secured PDF?

PDFgear can remove or bypass restrictions to print and edit a secured PDF. Simply open the secured PDF file with PDFgear, and the print icon will be available. You can also modify the text in the PDF.

What is password-protected PDFs?

There are two main types of password-protected PDFs:

Open Password Protection: Users must enter a password to open and view the PDF.

Permissions Password Protection: The PDF can be opened and viewed, but certain actions (like printing, copying, or editing) are restricted. You need the correct permissions password to unlock these features.

Conclusion

With PDFgear, you can successfully print a password-protected PDF and access its contents as needed. Always handle sensitive information carefully and respect the document owner’s privacy and security measures.