Is it legal to remove a password from a PDF?

Removing the password from your own documents, such as your bank statements, is fine. Don't bypass protection on files you aren't authorized to access.

Does unlocking change the PDF?

No. Pages, text, links and bookmarks stay the same — only the encryption is removed.

Why is my bank statement password protected?

To protect personal financial data if the email is intercepted. Banks usually tell you the password format, often based on your name or date of birth.

How to remove a password from a PDF

Banks, employers and utilities often lock PDFs with a password. If you know it, you can save an unlocked copy so you never have to type it again.

Open Unlock PDF

Steps

Open Unlock PDF and drop the protected file.
Enter the password you normally use to open it.
Click Unlock & download to save a copy without a password.

Other ways to do it

Chrome or Edge: open the PDF, enter the password, then Print → Save as PDF. The copy has no password, but it's re-rendered and can lose links and form fields.
macOS Preview: open the PDF, enter the password, then use File → Export as PDF without encryption.
Adobe Acrobat Pro: remove the security setting in the document's properties (requires the paid version).

PDFs with restrictions only

Some PDFs open freely but block printing or copying. They have a permissions password rather than an open password. Unlock PDF removes these restrictions automatically, without asking for a password. Only do this with documents you have the right to use.

Tools used in this guide

Unlock PDFRemove a PDF password you know Protect PDFAdd a password to a PDF with AES-256 Merge PDFCombine multiple PDFs into one