How to disable editing in pdf file

Hi Imran,

Hope you are doing well, and thanks for reaching out. 

Quick question first: do you (or the HR Director) already have Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Standard, or are you working with the free Acrobat Reader? This feature needs a paid version of Acrobat, so it's worth checking before you go looking for it.

Here's how to do it. What you want is called a "permission password" (sometimes shown as Restrict Editing). This is different from a regular open password. Employees will be able to open and read the letter with no password at all. They just won't be able to edit it unless they know a separate password that only your HR Director has. For more information and full steps with screenshots, check the help page: Restrict PDF editing with a password

If you don't have a paid Acrobat subscription, you can use the free browser-based tool that does the same thing: Password protect PDF online

Note: this kind of restriction works well for regular employees using normal PDF readers, since Acrobat and most mainstream readers respect it. It is not unbreakable security, though. Someone determined enough with the right tools could remove the restriction. For an internal HR letter where the goal is just to discourage casual edits, this is the right and standard approach.

~Amal