Confidential files are supposed to stay secure at all cost. To keep the prying eyes at bay or offer an additional shield to your sensitive information, never fail to password protect your PDF files on your Mac.
The Preview app for Mac makes it pretty easy to safeguard any doc with an extra layer of defense. Moreover, it also allows you to customize the security options to make the PDF file require password not only for copying text and images but also for printing.
So, if the security of any of your project is bothering you, follow along this straightforward guide to learn how to create an encrypted PDF file on macOS!
There are two ways:
How to Password Protect PDFs on Mac Using Preview App
Step #1. Open the PDF file in the Preview app on your Mac.
Step #2. Now, click on File menu and choose Export.
Step #3. Next, check the box for Encrypt.
Step #4. Next up, enter the password. you need to retype it to verify. Then, click on Save.
Note: Keep in mind if you don’t change the name of the doc, Mac will overwrite the existing content. If you don’t want to create a secondary encrypted PDF file, do not tweak the name.
Step #5. Finally, click on Replace.
That’s it! You’ve successfully saved your PDF file with a password on your Mac. If you wish to add even stronger shield to your doc, keep reading…
How to Encrypt a PDF File on Mac Using Print Function
Step #1. Open the PDF file in the Preview app on your computer → File menu → Print.
Step #2. Now, click on the drop-down menu next to PDF and choose Save as PDF.
Step #3. Next, click on Security Options.
Step #4. Next up, you have multiple options. For instance, you can configure the doc to require the password when being opened.
Besides, you will also set it to ask for the password to copy text, images, and print. Configure the security as per your need. Then, click on OK.
Step #5. Next, if you wish to create a secondary file, tweak the name. But if you don’t want to create a new file, hit Save.
Step #6. In the end, click on Replace to confirm.
What About Removing Password Protection from Your PDF?
What if the protected files become pretty common later and you don’t need to safeguard them anymore? No problem! It’s just as straightforward to decrypt a PDF. To find out how it works, head over to this complete guide.
That’s pretty much it!
Want More Control Over Your PDFs?
If you want to have more control over your PDFs or wish to edit them with more flexibility, try out some of the best PDF editors for Mac. Apps like PDFelement and PDF Expert can prove to be a boon for your workflow. From letting you easily convert the file into various other formats to annotate them, they ensure you can manage your docs like a pro.
Wrapping Up…
So, whenever you think your project could fall into the wrong hands, do use a password to protect your PDFs to thwart the unauthorized access. As the process is painless and doesn’t require any third-party software, it can’t fit into your workflow.
You may also like to snap a look at these posts:
- How to Remove Password from PDF Document on iPhone and iPad
- Reduce PDF File Size on Mac without Losing Quality
- How to Combine PDFs on Mac: 3 Ridiculously Simple Ways
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The founder of iGeeksBlog, Dhvanesh, is an Apple aficionado, who cannot stand even a slight innuendo about Apple products. He dons the cap of editor-in-chief to make sure that articles match the quality standard before they are published.
