How to password protect PDF File in Windows 11

Microsoft Word possesses the built-in ability to save documents as PDF. It doesn’t require you to download a converter to get the job done. Earlier, we had learned how to password protect Office documents. Today, we see the method of password protecting a PDF file in Word. The tutorial is for Office users who are not aware of the feature found in Word that allows you to encrypt and password-protect PDF files as well.

Please note that if you lose the password for the file, you will not be able to recover it without using password recovery software. Therefore, I advise you to store all the passwords in a safe place if you plan to use this feature for protecting multiple PDF files.

Here’s how to go about it.

Password Protect PDF File

Open a Word document that you would like to save in PDF format and encrypt withpassword, complete the writing or editing.

Once done, click the ‘File’ menu and then click Save As tab.

Next, select the location of your choice where you would like to save the PDF file.

Upon finding the ‘Save As’ dialog box, select Save as type as PDF from the drop-down menu and then hit the ‘Options’ button to open Options dialog.

Here, enable the option that reads as ‘Encrypt the document with a password’ and press ‘OK’ button.

Now, simply enter the password that is easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess and use it to protect your PDF file. After entering the password once, re-enter the same password before clicking OK button.

Read: How to Remove PDF Restrictions using free software or online tools.

Lock PDF from editing

It’s advisable to keep the password between 6 and 32 characters long. All done, click the OK button and hit ‘Save’ to save the PDF file.

Now, when you try opening this PDF file with Office or any other program, you’ll be prompted to enter the password to either view or edit it.

TIP: You can also use some of these free PDF software to password protect PDF documents.