PDFs are password protected by default. WHere do I find the password and how to i disable this? Adobe sign

[vincenthallow]

PDFs are password protected by default. WHere do I find the password and how to I disable this? Adobe sign

I'm trying to open a pdf that i exported from my adobe sign account and for some reason, it's password protected. I never set a password for it.

Any help?

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Vincenthallow,

You have mentioned above, that you have exported the PDF from Adobe Sign.

Did you create that PDF and sent it to for signature? If yes, did you apply any password on the document at that time?

If you have received this document for signature, in that case, you will need to check this with the sender of the document.

It may be possible that the password was added by the sender.

Let us know if you need any help or have any questions.

Regards,

Meenakshi

[Tu1549]

I got the exactly similar problem that Vincenthallow got. I have Adobe DC Pro, I tried to email the PDF document for signature. It's locked and I have never setup the password but it prompts me for the password to remove security setting!!!

Help please

[margueritek]

Last time I looked, PDFs exported from Adobe Sign are password protected with an Owner password only. The User password is null, so you can view the document. The Owner password does restrict some operations.

[shiny24293504eye0]

Vincenthallow mentioned that he never set any password, i have the same experienced why does it happen that creating  an auto password when you do pdf files? 

[drbennyjose]

Same problem here. Filled and signed an Adobe document and have never set a password myself. But the security status shows password protected.

[Max24217392v8a4]

Same problem, did anyone find out how to disable?

[Shivam Goel]

I am also facing same problem. The first document I edit through acrobat pro is password protected

[Mike275621887iqq]

The exact same thing just happened to me. I went to set protection on the document and it asked for a password to change the security settings. I didn't set one yet.

[Ville S]

Same problem

[Ville S]

My signing a template document (form) with my scanned signature after filling it in seems to have locked the file with a password. But no idea what the password might be. Possibly it is set by the producer of the template.

[Shelli38977269eggi]

either did I

[andrew_8660]

SOLUTION:  I had the same problem...

Open the .pdf which is unnecessarily password protected and "Print to PDF"... the new PDF you just printed will not be password protected.

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi Shelli38977269eggi,

Thank you for reaching out, and sorry about the delay in response.

As mentioned above, the signed document is password-protected. Could you please let us know if you are trying to make changes to the document or if it asks for a password to open it?

Did you create and send the document for signature, or was it sent by someone else? Does this behavior occur with all documents or this particular one?

Please share more information on what you are trying and where it asks for the password. That will help us understand the workflow and cause of the behavior. It would be helpful if you could share the screenshot or video of the steps you are trying on your end.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[Nicholas35633031hv38]

Not the original poster, but here is the issue as I've encountered it:

I created a Adobe PDFs from a Microsoft Word file.

Using the E-sign feature in Adobe Acrobat, I sent those file to different people. 1 person per file.

I received the signed "Agreements" back.

I need to combine all of these individually signed files into a single PDF. When I try to combine PDFs, I am told the files have passwords. I cannot combine them without that password.

At no stage in this process did I add a password. I am unable to combine the PDFs without a password that I never set.

As a test, I sent myself one of these E-sign requests, signed it myself, at no stage did I add a password, and when I download the document and try to combine it with others, I still am asked for a password. In this test I generated the PDF, sent myself the E-sign agreement, and signed it myself. At no stage did I add a password, yet the file is locked behind a password.

I will just have to use third party software, or that Print to PDF function to do this it seems. The people who signed did not add a password. So I have no idea where this password came from.

I am using all default settings in Acrobat. I just downloaded it a couple weeks ago to complete this task. It is tied to my personal address and not an institutional address, so no institutional settings should be applied. I'm at a loss here.

[lisa_3354]

I AM HAVING THE SAME ISSUE!  CAN SOMEONE HELP ME?

[jeffrey_5176]

Hi everyone - I had the same issue but this appears to be default settings.  The password is randomized and put in place by default.  If you are an enterprise customer, you can request the passwords be set.  See article below:

Unlock a signed PDF file (adobe.com) 

[Meenakshi Negi]

Hi lisa_3354,

Thank you for reaching out.

Please let us know if you are asked for the password to open the signed PDF or when you try to make changes to the PDF.

It would be helpful if you could share your complete steps and what happens. 

If you are using the Acrobat Sign Enterprise service plan, refer to the information on the following help document: https://adobe.ly/3N5p6eH. It is only for the documents that show a message when trying to edit the signed document. You may open those signed PDFs without any password. 

Let us know if you are referring to something else. 

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[jeffrey_5176]

The problem here is that having a password on the PDF is triggering other platforms to prompt for that password.  The PDF opens fine without a password.  It's when using other services that sense the password is there, it will not accept the password.  We're having to work around this to strip out the protections by using "Microsoft Print to PDF" to create a new PDF without restrictions.  

From an Adobe side of things, I don't understand why this process is being done, when Docusign can sign the document with some protections, but there is no "Password" for certain services being added to the document.  

Let me know if I can provide further information here.  

[colette_9863]

i have the same problem but there is not option to print to pdf.  when I try to print it says password protected.  this occurred and I never even signed the document!  i simply closed it and tried to open it again and was unable to do so because it requires a password.  so essentially 4 hours of work I can no longer access!

[colette_9863]

please let me know if there is a way to reset the password so I can access my document