Thursday, 16 March 2023 | 14:27
Aulia Hafisa
PDF Illustration (Freepik)

TheIndonesia.id - Portable Document Format (PDF) is widely used because its fixed format can't be edited. Do you know that besides protecting your document from being edited, PDF also protects your document from being seen by any random person? Here is how to encrypt PDF files. 

Some people might not know that PDF has a password-protected encryption system for formats that use Adobe Acrobat, PDFmate, or MacOs. You can insert a password to the PDF file, making it safe for being opened, and moreover when you send the file through email. 

Here is how to encrypt a PDF file for email quoting from official Adobe.com.

How to encrypt a PDF file for email

Do you want to prevent unauthorized users from reading your sensitive documents? 

Some documents just shouldn’t fall into the wrong hands, and email isn’t always the most secure form of communication. To prevent unauthorized access to your information, encrypt a PDF file.

Use PDF editing software

PDF Illustration (Shutterstock)

If you have a PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat downloaded to your device, you can easily encrypt PDFs with a few simple steps:

  1. Open the PDF you want to encrypt in the editor.
  2. On the top toolbar, click Tools > Protect > Encrypt > Encrypt with Password.
  3. Check the box next to Require a password to open the document.
  4. Choose a password in the text block.
  5. Select a compatibility encryption level from the drop-down menu (needs to match the receiver’s version of Acrobat).
  6. Choose an encryption level (Encrypting all document contents is the most common).
  7. Click OK, retype the password, and press OK again.
  8. The next time you or anyone else wants to open this PDF, they’ll need to type the password to open the file.

Encrypt PDFs online

You can also encrypt a PDF file for email right from your web browser using an online PDF editor like Acrobat online services.

To encrypt a PDF online, follow these steps:

  1. Visit the Acrobat online services website.
  2. Upload the PDF you want to encrypt.
  3. Enter a password and retype it to confirm.
  4. Click Set password.
  5. Download the newly encrypted PDF file.
  6. Now you’re free to email the PDF without worrying about prying eyes.

Discover what more you can do with Acrobat online services to keep your PDFs safe on the internet.