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Effortlessly Convert Password Protected PDF to Word – A DIY Tutorial

  author
Published By Mohit Jha
Tej Pratap Shukla
Approved By Tej Pratap Shukla
Published On March 29th, 2024
Reading Time 7 Minutes Reading
This blog deals with one of the common issues faced by millions of users working with PDF file formats. Many times people are unable to convert password protected PDF to Word. Therefore, to fix this problem, we will discuss manual, online, and automated solutions in the following sections. 

Dr. John Warnock and his team at Adobe Systems developed the PDF file format, which was officially released in 1993. It is specially designed to save information in a secure and more manageable way. Since PDF is platform-independent compared to others it doesn’t require any specific operating system to be opened. Also, it can be opened by any browser. 

But sometimes the robust security of Adobe PDF becomes a hassle, especially when it is locked with user-level and owner-level security. So, in the coming section, we will resolve the query of all those users who cannot convert password protected PDF to Word.

User Queries

To know how to convert secured PDF to Word file format first, we need to understand what kind of situation faced by PDF users in a different situation:

“Hello everyone, I have multiple PDF files with crucial data, and now I want to convert those files into Word, to make them more professional. But, due to its restrictions, I can’t do that. So, can anyone tell me how can I resolve this issue? It’s urgent.”
“Help!!! I am working in an IT company, and recently I got some restricted PDFs. To unlock those documents I tried some tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro and online solutions but they asked me to provide the password. But, this is the main issue I don’t know the permission password. Therefore, if anyone helps me with this, it would be great.”

During PDF file creation, we can change the permission as you can see in the below image. These permissions include “Printing, Changing the Document, Content Copying, Page Extraction, Commenting, Signing, and Template Creation” in security options. So, when PDF security is added users cannot convert secured PDF to Word files.

permission not allowed

Methods to Convert Password Protected PDF to Word File

At present, there are four most preferred solutions that experts consider. Using these techniques anyone can proceed with the task hassle-free. You can choose among them according to your needs. So without any further ado, let’s have a quick look at the same:

  1. Adobe Acrobat Pro 
  2. Google Chrome
  3. Automated Solution
  4. Online Solutions

#Approach 1. Adobe Acrobat Pro

The most common solution to convert secured PDF to Word file is via Adobe Acrobat Document Cloud (DC Full Version). This utility of Adobe will help you to convert password protected PDF to Word but, first, you need to remove PDF file security.

Note: To unprotect PDF documents with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC you must know the permission password.

To remove the password-protected restrictions, just follow these steps:

  • Upload the PDF files in Adobe Acrobat Pro using the File option. 
  • When asked enter the password carefully.

provide password

  • Click on the OK or Unlock button to remove the protection.  

Once the PDF becomes unsecured, easily export it into Word with the below instructions:

  • Open the PDF File format you want to convert into Word by using Adobe Acrobat Pro.
  • After that use the File > Save As or Export To option.

  • Now select the file format such as (.doc Word 2003- 97) or .docx (For Word 2013-2016) according to the application used to Open the resulting PST File.

select format

  • Lastly, provide the destination to save the resulting Word File within the system.

#Approach 2. Convert Password Protected PDF to Word With Google Chrome

For those users who have the proper permissions to unlock the PDF. Plus, those who have the data in a small quantity can opt for Google Chrome. If you are interested in learning to convert secured PDF to Word, then just go through the instructions as follows:

  • Upload the files into Google Chrome.

open PDF in Chrome

  • Provide the password to access the file.
  • Click on a print option or Ctrl + P.

hit on print

  • Select the destination “Save as PDF”>Click Save.

choose destination

  • Then, a new tab will open, Click Open PDF in Preview>Open in Google Docs.

open in google docs

  • Lastly, select the File > Download > Word.

#Approach 3. Quick Solution to Convert Password Protected PDF to Word

From the Security option, different levels of restriction can be applied to PDF documents. To remove that use PDF Restriction Remover and enable permissions for Printing / Copying / Editing / Signing / Commenting, etc. Also, this software can remove 128 / 256-bit encryption from PDF and save it into PDF File format again even without a password.

Before beginning with the step-wise guidelines let’s understand its salient features:

  1. It ensures data integrity even after removing signature protection.
  2. No extra software like Adobe Acrobat is required.
  3. Unlock PDF signatures with just a few clicks effortlessly.
  4. Remove copy protection from PDF without needing a permission password.
  5. This tool is user-friendly and reliable for managing PDF security.

Steps to Convert Secured PDF to Word

Follow the steps to convert password protected PDF to Word using the specified solution:

Step 1- Launch and run the tool on Windows OS or Mac system.

run the solution

Step 2- Click the Add File or Add Folder option and choose the PDF file that is to be converted.

select PDF files

Step 3- Choose the destination location to store the unlocked PDFs.

choose destination locationStep 4- Finally, click on the Unlock PDF button and initiate the process.

press Unlock option

Now, the file becomes unprotected and is ready for converting into Word file format. For the conversion part, you can manually convert those files into Word. Moreover, you just have to select the PDF>Right click>Copy>open Word File>Paste. But, if you want to convert multiple unlocked PDF files then you can consider the next option.

#Approach 4. Convert Password Protected PDF to Word With Online Converter

There are many online converter tools available on the internet for converting PDF files to editable Word format. By using the above program we can unsecure PDF file and after that, we can convert PDF documents to Word using any online solution. 

Here are the step-by-step instructions to be followed:

  • Open the program in any web browser.
  • Then, drag and drop the PDFs directly into the site>Click Convert to Word.
  • Lastly, hit the download button to save those Word files.

Bring It All Together

In many cases, users find it a hassle to convert password protected PDF to Word. However, for the resolution of this problem, we have described some simple solutions in this write-up. For the same, we have covered manual, automated, and online solutions with their proper instructions. 

Still, if the permission password is unknown to the users, they can’t convert secured PDF to Word with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. Therefore, it is better to opt for a professional tool for unprotecting PDF files. Plus, for converting it to Word use any Online converter tool.

Common Queries

Q: Is it necessary to know the password to convert a password-protected PDF to Word?

Ans. Yes, it is necessary to know the password of the PDF to open it. But, in case, you lose your password and want to access online documents, you can consider a mentioned automated solution. Furthermore, the quick steps are as follows:

  1. Open the program.
  2. Upload the PDF using the Add File option.
  3. Choose the destination location>Click on Save or Print.
  4. Start the process by hitting on the Unlock option.

Q: Are there any online tools available to convert password-protected PDFs to Word?

Ans. Many online converters can help with this procedure, and one of them is explained in this guide i.e. iLovePDF with its step-wise instructions.

Q: Can I convert a password-protected PDF to Word using Microsoft Word?

Ans. No, Microsoft Word doesn’t offer a direct method to convert password protected PDF to Word. For the same, you can opt for any of the four solutions described above.

  author

By Mohit Jha

Mohit is a Microsoft-certified expert who has assisted thousands of clients with Outlook & Microsoft Office 365 issues. He enjoys writing on email clients as well as data migration. He is always excited about giving troubled readers the most up-to-date knowledge, explanation, and refinements.