Best PDF Unlockers (Password Removers) in 2026: the buyer's shortlist

ToAny opens your PDF in the browser tab. You drop the file, type the password if it has one, and download a copy without it. The original is untouched. If a file only carries print or edit limits, the row asks before it removes them.

No PDF tool on ToAny uses the conversion server. The password you type stays in browser memory and is not stored, logged or sent. ToAny sends one thing to its own server, an anonymous daily count of tool runs, with no file name, size or content. You can check this yourself in your browser's Network panel.

It is free, with no account and no email. Several PDFs can be unlocked at once. ToAny also covers 190 formats and 1,195 conversion pairs, so the same site handles the next job, from compressing the PDF to converting it, alongside its other PDF tools. Only 16 of those pairs, such as PPTX to PDF, run on ToAny's server, and only after you consent for each upload. Unlock is not one of them.

The weak spots are real. A run is capped at 300 MB of input in total on desktop and 100 MB on touch devices, and very large files depend on your device's memory. PDFgear states no size limit for its unlock tool. ToAny has no offline app and no API. It cannot recover a lost password.

At the time of writing no ads are shown, though ToAny's terms say the site may display advertising.

PDFgear is the strongest competitor here. Its online Unlock PDF tool runs in the browser with no upload, needs no account, and adds no watermark to the result. The vendor states there are no restrictions on the size, number or page count of your files, and that it offers unlimited unlocks.

On those rows it beats ToAny, which caps a run at 300 MB. PDFgear also has free desktop apps for Windows and Mac, and an offline unlock version exists, so it wins on offline use as well. The vendor says it shows no ads and that its investment covers operating costs.

Like every tool here, it needs the password. PDFgear says strongly encrypted files need it. It is a PDF suite first, with an online tools hub advertising 30+ tools and apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.

Be aware of what is not unlimited. PDFgear's online Compress PDF tool uploads files to Amazon cloud servers in the US and deletes them 20 minutes after you leave the site. Some advanced conversions can also run on Amazon cloud. Only the unlock tool is described as in-browser, so check each tool you use.

Pricing is the open question. The product is presented as completely free, and the homepage structured data lists a price of 0 USD. The vendor says charging for advanced features is under consideration, and its About page lists some features shifting to paid options.

On trust signals, the homepage shows a 4.9 rating from 10,000+ reviews without naming the source. Google Play shows 4.7 stars from 48.7K reviews and 1M+ downloads. The company is Singapore-based, and the first version was released in 2022.

PDF24 has two routes. The web tools upload the file to servers in the EU. PDF24 Creator is a free Windows app that keeps files on your PC. The pages we read do not say whether Creator itself can unlock a PDF, so check before you install it. The web tool list includes both Protect PDF and Unlock PDF, alongside Compress, Merge, Split, Sign, Edit, OCR, Redact and Compare.

For the web tools, the privacy policy says uploads are usually deleted one hour after upload or after the result is created. The help centre gives the same figure, one hour on the server, after which everything related to the request is deleted. Files travel over SSL.

That is a fair deal for a free tool, but it is still an upload. If the PDF is a signed contract or a medical record, the Creator app or a browser-only tool is the safer route. The policy also describes an optional AI invoice recognition feature as an exception to the EU processing rule.

The Creator app is the main reason to pick PDF24. It is free, and no paid plan was found on the pages we read. It is Windows only, so Mac users are left with the web tools. The Creator page shows advertisement labels. Whether the installed app shows ads is not stated.

PDF24 is run by geek software GmbH in Berlin, and the project dates from 2006. The about page names Stefan Ziegler as the driver of the project and does not name founders. It says the tools are used by millions of people, and gives no exact figure.

We found no free size limit or daily limit for Unlock PDF on the pages we read, so the comparison table says not stated.

iLovePDF is a hosted suite that reports a large daily volume. Files are uploaded to and processed on its servers, not in the browser. They are deleted automatically within two hours of processing, and you can delete them yourself from the download screen.

On the free Basic plan, the pricing page lists a 100 MB limit for Unlock and 2 files per task. Premium raises most limits to 4 GB and 10 files per task. The free plan shows ads, and removing them is a Premium benefit.

Premium was priced at 11 AUD a month billed monthly, or 84 AUD billed annually, which the page presents as 7 AUD a month and 42% off. The page appeared to be showing Australian dollars based on location, and we did not verify a US dollar price. Students and academic professionals can get a free year of Premium.

Where iLovePDF beats ToAny is breadth and integration. It offers an API called iLoveAPI for developers, with integrations including Zapier, Make and WordPress. It has desktop apps for Mac and Windows, and mobile apps for iOS and Android. ToAny has none of these. The language selector lists 26 options.

On trust, it is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified and says it is fully GDPR compliant. It reports 16.5 million documents processed every day and a 4.9 average rating on Trustpilot. Both figures are self-reported on its own pricing page, and Trustpilot itself returned an error when we checked.

iLovePDF was founded in 2010 and is based in Barcelona. The trade-off is the one every hosted tool has: your PDF leaves your device, even briefly, and you rely on the stated deletion time.

Smallpdf is a hosted suite made in Switzerland. Files are uploaded to servers in Ireland. On the free tools they are deleted after 1 hour. Account storage is kept until you delete it, then removed within 1 hour.

The free plan has limits. The pricing page lists limited document downloads, and Protect, Unlock and Flatten each carry a daily download limit. The exact daily number is not shown on the page. A help article says free use covers 30+ tools with unspecified daily limitations, and that you wait 24 hours for the reset.

That makes Smallpdf awkward when you have several files, because you cannot tell in advance how many you will get. A 7-day free trial of the paid plan is offered, and you can cancel at any time, after which you go back to the free plan. The yearly plan is 25% cheaper per month than the monthly one. We could not read absolute prices in the page source, so we do not quote any.

Smallpdf is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and says it complies with GDPR, CCPA and nFADP. It claims 40+ million monthly users, 100+ million monthly tasks and 24 languages. It was founded in 2013 and the company is Smallpdf AG, with teams in Zurich and Belgrade.

On Trustpilot it shows a 4.8 rating from 5,277 reviews. It has web, desktop and mobile versions, and its footer links to developer resources, though we did not read the API terms.

Free-tier ads are implied rather than stated, while Pro users see none. Like the other hosted tools, it needs an upload.

PDF2Go is a hosted tool run by QaamGo Web GmbH in Radolfzell, Germany. Unlock PDF accepts files up to 50 MB without an account. A free account or a paid plan raises the limit, and the Starter and Pro plans list 64 GB files.

The vendor is explicit that unlock needs the current password and cannot break encryption, which is useful to know before you start. On-site ratings show 4.4 out of 5 from 13,201 votes for Unlock. These are the site's own votes, not a third-party review platform.

Be careful with the wording on the tool pages. Pages for its tools headline that the work happens in your browser, but the same pages describe uploading to PDF2Go servers. The security page confirms that files go over TLS to servers stored in Europe. So this is a browser interface, not browser-side processing.

Retention is the longest on this list. Downloads are allowed up to 10 times, the download link is blocked after 24 hours, and files are physically deleted after at most 72 hours. Database backups are kept for up to 60 days, though not backups of the transmitted files. The vendor says the pipeline is automated and nobody reads or copies files, and that files are not used for AI training.

Free use shows ads, and an ad-free experience starts at the Starter plan. A desktop app is included on Pro and Business only, so it is no use as a free offline option. Additional seats on a paid plan cost EUR 5 per user per month, and paid plans carry a 14-day money-back guarantee.

It offers 25 languages and a separate REST API, which ToAny does not have.

Soda PDF is a desktop and web suite; the site names Avanquest Software as the trademark owner. Its free online tools are the tightest on this list. The free tier is 2 files per day, and the unlock page states a 3 MB cap, the same as the compress page.

A 3 MB limit is tight for scans and image-heavy PDFs. If your PDF is larger, you will need the paid software or a different tool. The compress page also says password-protected PDFs must be unlocked first, so unlocking is treated as a separate step.

Online tools upload the file to Soda's servers over TLS. The merge page states files are deleted from servers within 24 hours. The compress page confirms no account is required and no watermark is added, though we read those claims on the compress page and not on the unlock page.

The paid side is where Soda PDF competes. Plans are Pro, Team (3 to 19 licences, with a 10% discount per licence) and Business, and there is no perpetual licence. Dollar prices were not visible in the page source, so we cannot quote a price. The web app works on Mac, Linux, iOS and Android, with Windows deployment options for businesses.

Soda PDF claims more than 425,000 users, a figure that is self-reported. Trustpilot shows 4.2 from 1,841 reviews. The footer offers 15 site languages.

It is a capable suite for people who already pay for it. As a free unlocker, the limits make it the weakest choice.