Do you want to password-protect your PDF files in Windows 10 or Windows 11 for free? If yes then you are ta the right place. In this guide, you’ll learn how to password-protect a PDF file in Windows 10/11.
A PDF file’s security may be greatly increased by adding password protection. This adds an additional degree of protection to your PDF files.
For a variety of reasons, you might want to or need to apply security features to a PDF. If you email PDF files containing sensitive information like customer information, personally-identifying information, or banking information, for instance, you might wish to include a password. In this manner, the files will only be accessible to those who have your password.
Windows 11 or 10 do not by default offer the option to password-protect PDF files. However, there are a number of online and offline solutions that let users secure PDF files in Windows. It includes PDFEncrypt.
How to Password-protect a PDF File in Windows 10/11
As previously indicated, Windows does not come pre-installed with any choices for password-protecting PDF files. However, one may password secure (encrypt) PDF files without spending money by utilizing PDFEncrypt.
1. Download and install the PDFEncrypt software.
2. Once downloaded, install.
![](https://shaadlife.com/wp-content/uploads/password-protect-pdf-windows-1.png)
Install PDFEncrypt
3. Once installed, open the software.
4. Select the PDF file you want to password-protect.
5. By default, PDFEncrypt stores the encrypted PDF file with the suffix “encrypted” in the source folder. You can adjust the destination path if necessary to meet your needs.
6. After that, press the Generate button to create a reliable password. You may also manually input your password if you like. For convenience, the created password will be copied into the clipboard when you click the Generate button. That password may be saved in any program, even Notepad.
7. Finally, encrypt your PDF file with a password by clicking the Encrypt option.
![How to Password-protect a PDF File in Windows 10/11 For Free With Ease](https://shaadlife.com/wp-content/uploads/password-protect-pdf-windows-2.png)
Password-protect a PDF File in Windows
The original file will not be altered; instead, a new password-protected (encrypted) version will be stored at the specified location when the file is produced. Knowing that only a person with the right password will be able to read it, you may send the encrypted version by email or another method.
That’s it. These were the steps to password-protect a PDF file in Windows 10/11.
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