How do I unlock a PDF that has a signed and certified signature so that I can redact information?

[kylem77948324]

Is it possible to have an Adminstrator obtain the secure password for the signed document in order to unlock the PDF and redact?

[margueritek · Accepted solution]

Even if you had the password, redaction would change the page contents, so can't be applied to a signed document (it would break the signature)

[Bernd Alheit]

Is the document secured and signed?

[try67]

The password used to encrypt the document can't be retrieved by anyone.

[margueritek · Accepted solution]

Even if you had the password, redaction would change the page contents, so can't be applied to a signed document (it would break the signature)

[SamiranK]

Simple, open the document in any browser and do print as pdf.
the resulting file is unlocked and unsigned, do whatever you want with it with the acrobat reader.

[Leif312703480wmh]

You are a genius. Thank you. 

[Stephanie.Welton]

Is there a way to do this on a Mac?  I was able to "Print to Microsoft PDF" on my HP laptop to flatten the documents after being signed, but now that I have a Mac, I'm unable to do this or "print to pdf" after having the digital signatures applied. The document is completely locked. 

[hichem_5800]

Thank you!! still helpful 

[RatsRock · Accepted solution]

Hello everyone. I had a similar issue.

When I opened a PDF file that had a padlock icon on top left inside of Adobe Acrobat I did the following in order to print. It works. Try it. File… Export to… Microsoft Word > Word Document… Save as… Save (I chose to save it to my desktop)

Open up the Word Document. Go to the top of your screen and click on File… Print… click on PDF on bottom left… Save as… Save (I chose to save it to my desktop)

I saved the locked PDF file into a converted Microsoft Word document then a new PDF file from this Microsoft Word document so it did not have that padlock security password.

You can print from the Microsoft Word document you exported or print from the PDF file you had just made from the new Microsoft Word document with no padlock security passcode.

Hope this information helps. Paws up 🙂

[S. S]

Hi @RatsRock,

Hope you are doing well.

Thanks for letting us know what worked for you.

Marking this as the correct answer for future users to use as a reference.

-Souvik

[lookinnovative]

This is the correct best answer. Worked like a champ! 💪🏽🚀🏆