Security and privacy

How to Password Protect an ID document PDF

Updated 2026-09-17 · 2 min read

The usual reason to password protect an ID document PDF is needing to share proof of identity with parts of it hidden.

PDF security has two separate parts: the password needed to open the file, and the permissions controlling what can be done once it is open.

PDFfont edits PDF text in the document's own embedded font — no white cover boxes.

Steps to password protect an ID document PDF

Open the document and go to the security settings.

Set an open password — this encrypts the contents with AES-256.

Choose permissions: allow or disallow printing, copying and further editing.

Export, and send the password through a different channel from the file itself.

With this kind of document, redaction is the only appropriate tool here, because it removes the data rather than covering it.

One caution worth stating plainly: never alter an identity document — only redact what the recipient does not need.

Encryption is genuine protection; permissions are an instruction that well-behaved readers respect. Do not rely on permissions alone.

Yes, if you can open the file with it.

Yes, the reader prompts for the password.

Yes. The editor runs in mobile Safari and Chrome, with touch-sized controls and a share sheet for saving the finished file.

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