Learn why you can’t sign on a PDF, and how to effectively sign a secured PDF file without a password.
A secured PDF protected by owner/permission password won’t let you sign the PDF, as it has applied restrictions to signing.
*If your PDF is protected by a user/open password that restricts opening the file, use our online PDF unlocker to open the file with a password.
If you can successfully open the PDF file but PDF editors like Adobe Acrobat don’t let you sign it, then the PDF is read-only.
In that case, PDFgear PDF editor is a great tool that allows you to sign on these PDFs without a glitch.
PDFgear is free to use, there’s no sign-up, and there’s no watermark.
Take this PDF file, for example, if I open it in Adobe Acrobat, I’ll see its signature options grayed out (screenshot taken in new Acrobat experience).
Step 1. Download and install PDFgear, fire it up after the installation, and click Open File to open the secured PDF.
Step 2. Go to the Edit toolbox from the upper menubar, click on the Signature tool, and click Create Signature.
Step 3. Create your new signature by opening a Picture, typing, or writing, and click OK.
Step 4. Drag and drop the signature to insert it on any part of the current PDF page.
Step 5. Once inserted, drag on the corner of the signature to resize it to your liking.
Moreover, a menu will pop up for you to flatten the signature to prevent further editing, delete the signature, or place the signature on multiple pages in batch.
Step 6. Lastly, click the upper-left Save as or Print button to save the signed PDF respectively as an editable or non-editable copy.
Google Drive offers an online approach to signing secured PDFs by opening the file with Google Docs, which intrinsically converts the PDF file and also circumvents the signing restriction.
The downside to this method is that there could be formatting issues during the conversion, you may see weird text or incorrect layout in the Google Docs.
Step 1. Go to Google Drive, and log in to your account if you haven’t already.
Step 2. Click the upper-left New button to upload the secured PDF to Google Drive.
Step 3. Once the file is uploaded, find your PDF in your Google Drive, click the triple dots on the right side > Open with > Google Docs.
Step 4. In Google Docs, place the cursor where you want to sign on the document, click Insert from the upper menubar > click Image > Uploaded from computer.
Step 5. Choose the signature image on your computer, and your signature will be inserted here.
Text wrapping may be needed for you to adjust the placement of the signature.
Step 6. Lastly, go to File > Download > PDF document to save the Google Docs as a signed PDF.
No, you generally cannot sign a secured PDF without the necessary permissions. If the PDF is protected with an open-password, you must enter that password to access and sign it. If it has a permission-password, you need that password to change the document’s settings to allow signing.
There are two main types of passwords used in PDFs:
If you do not have the password for a secured PDF, your options are limited. You may need to request the password from the document owner or use specialized software to remove the security features before signing. However, bypassing security measures without permission is unethical and often illegal.
To check if a PDF is secured, open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader and go to the “File” menu, then select “Properties.” Under the “Security” tab, you can see what restrictions are applied and whether a password is required for access or certain actions.
Ensure you have entered the correct passwords.
Check if your software has permission to edit or sign the document.
Contact the sender of the document for assistance or request an unsecured version of the file.