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FileWhirl
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Protect PDF. For free.

Lock a PDF with a password so only the right people can open it — secured with strong AES-256 encryption. No watermark, no signup, and we never store your password. iLovePDF can't say that.

Strong AES-256 encryptionPassword never storedNo signup or watermarkDeleted within 1 hour

AES-256

Bank-grade encryption

Private

Password never stored

Temporary

Deleted within an hour

How it works

  1. 01

    Add your PDF

    Drop in a PDF, or click to browse. It's uploaded privately over TLS.

  2. 02

    Choose a password

    Pick a strong password and confirm it. We use it once to encrypt — we never store it.

  3. 03

    Download the locked PDF

    We encrypt it with AES-256 and hand it back. Your upload and result are deleted within an hour.

More PDF tools: Merge · Split · Rotate · Compress · Page numbers · Watermark · Organize · Crop · Sign · Redact · Add text · N-up · Unlock · Repair · PDF/A · OCR · To images · Extract images.

Common questions

How strong is the encryption?+

We use AES-256, the same strong encryption standard banks and governments rely on. Anyone opening the PDF will need the password you set.

Do you keep my password?+

No. Your password is used once on our server to encrypt the file, then discarded — we never store it. Because of that, if you lose it the PDF can't be recovered, so keep it somewhere safe.

Is my file private?+

Yes. It's uploaded over an encrypted connection, protected on our own server with no third-party APIs, and the upload and result are deleted within one hour.

Will the PDF still open everywhere?+

Yes — it stays a standard PDF. Acrobat, Preview, Chrome, phones and every common reader will simply ask for the password before opening it.

Is there a limit?+

No watermark, no signup, and generous file sizes — free to use.