Make a copy of a PDF that opens with no password prompt

Twelve statements, twelve prompts

A freelance designer is pulling together her tax paperwork. Her bank emails one statement a month, each named like statement-2026-10.pdf, three or four pages long, and each protected with a password built from her date of birth. Her accountant wants the whole year in a single file by the end of January and should not have to learn her birthday to read it.

She has the password, so nobody is breaking anything. What she needs is twelve copies that open without asking, which she can then join into one document. The merge tool on this site refuses protected files, so the password-free copies have to come first.

Four ways to get the copy

Every route below starts with typing the password once. They differ in what the resulting file keeps and in where that typing happens.

The print route is a re-render rather than a copy, which is why it is the last resort for anything you need to edit later. For statements you only read and file, it is perfectly workable.

Doing it in PDFGym, file by file

1. Open Unlock PDF in the browser on the device where the statements live.
2. Choose statement-2026-01.pdf. The tool reads it and shows the name and size, with a note that pages are counted once the password is in.
3. Type the password into Current password and press Unlock PDF.
4. Wait for the check. The new file is opened without any password and compared with the source page by page, including page sizes and selectable text, before Download appears.
5. Download statement-2026-01-unlocked.pdf, then repeat for the next month. The tool takes one PDF at a time.
6. When all twelve are done, combine them with Merge PDF into one yearly file for the accountant.

Neither the statements nor the password leave the tab. Nothing is uploaded, and the password is never written to usage data or the address bar.

Where the open copy should live

A copy with no password is readable by anything that reaches the folder it sits in. A short routine keeps that risk small.

• Rename the copy so it cannot be mistaken for the original, for example statement-2026-01-open.pdf, or keep the -unlocked suffix the tool adds.
• File the protected original away as your archive copy.
• Avoid leaving open copies in a synced cloud folder, a shared downloads directory or a phone backup unless you are comfortable with everyone who can reach them.
• Delete working copies once the job is finished.
• Before emailing a sensitive file, add a fresh password with Password protect PDF and send that password by a different channel, such as a text message or a call.

Slips that cost an afternoon

• Pressing Save in the viewer and expecting the prompt to go. A reader that opened an encrypted file usually writes it back encrypted. You need a newly written copy, from one of the routes above.
• Choosing a real printer instead of a PDF destination. In the print dialog, pick Save as PDF or Microsoft Print to PDF, not the office printer, or you get paper rather than a file.
• A grey Print button. That file has a permissions lock, so the print route is closed. The guide to the two kinds of PDF lock explains why, and Unlock PDF clears that lock without a password.
• Merging the months out of order. Names with a two-digit month, such as 2026-01 to 2026-12, sort correctly; names like "Jan" and "Feb" do not. Check the order in the merge list before you build the yearly file.
• Sending the open copy by mistake. With two near-identical names in a folder, check which one is attached before you press Send.

When to keep typing the password instead

A password-free copy is not always the right answer. If you open a payslip twice a year, typing the password costs less than looking after an unprotected copy. If an employer's policy says documents must stay encrypted on your laptop, follow it, and ask IT how they want sharing handled. Files tied to a company's rights-management system are not plain password files at all, so only IT can change them.

And if what you lack is the password itself, none of these routes apply. Ask the sender for it, or read what to do about a forgotten PDF password.