Password-Protect a PDF on Mac for Free With Preview

The current path is Permissions, an open password, and an owner password

The current article says you can protect a PDF with a password that must be entered to open the file, and that you can also set a password to manage access to features such as printing, copying text, and adding annotations. The steps say to go to Preview, open a PDF, and choose File > Export. Click the Permissions button. For the open password, select Require Password To Open Document, enter a password, and retype it. For permissions, select the checkbox next to an action to allow printing or changes without the owner password, or leave it unselected to require the owner password. Then enter a password in the Owner Password section and retype it. The article says it can be the same as or different from any password you created in step 3. On the current page’s numbered list, step 3 is Choose File > Export. The open-password fields are in the Permissions list under the next numbered step. This guide keeps the printed “step 3” and the field names beside it. Click Apply, then Save. Changes take effect the next time the PDF is opened. The article addressed to macOS 26 prints this procedure. The welcome page labels the current guide for macOS 27.

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A new filename is how the current page leaves the original without this password

Under File > Export, the current page says: if you want to create a password-protected copy without setting a password for the original PDF, enter a new name for the PDF. The pages addressed to macOS 14 and macOS 15 print that sentence. The pages addressed to macOS 12 and macOS 13 print a different one: if you want to create a password-protected copy and keep the original PDF unencrypted, enter a new name for the PDF. The macOS 11 page says you can enter a new name if you want to create a passworded copy and keep the original PDF unencrypted. The copy article’s separate duplicate command is File > Duplicate, then File > Save. Use the sentence on the password page you have open. “Unencrypted,” “passworded,” and “without setting a password” stay on the pages that print them.

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Edit Permissions is the current page’s later change

After an owner password is set, the current article says you can change password-protection options or create a new password. Choose File > Edit Permissions. You can select Require Password To Open Document and enter that password again. You can deselect a checkbox to require the owner password for printing or other actions, or leave it selected to allow changes without the password. You can enter a new owner password and retype it. Click Apply to save your changes. Changes take effect the next time the PDF is opened. The pages addressed to macOS 12 and macOS 13 print this Edit Permissions section, with “In the Preview app” where the current page says “Go to the Preview app.” The macOS 11 removal sentence is a different article and a different control.

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macOS 11 and macOS 10.15 say Encrypt

Both older pages open with: you can give a PDF a password that everyone must enter to open the file. The password is used to encrypt the file. macOS 11 says to open the PDF that you want to password-protect, choose File > Export, and select Encrypt. It includes the passworded-copy sentence, then type a password, retype it, and click Save. Its removal line is: to remove a password from a PDF that you encrypted, open the PDF and export it again, this time turning off the encryption option. macOS 10.15 says to open the PDF you want to password-protect, choose File > Export, select Encrypt, type a password, and retype it to verify. The macOS 10.15 body read on 27 October 2026 ends at that verification. The current Permissions article does not print Encrypt, and it does not print the macOS 11 removal line.

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Locked, Security Options, and the Encryption inspector are three other controls

The lock article says you can lock a PDF or image so that it can’t be edited or deleted. If you own a locked document, you can edit it after unlocking it. Others can change the contents by duplicating the document and editing the duplicate. The steps are to open the file, move the pointer next to the document’s name in the title bar, click the control, and select or deselect Locked. Finder uses File > Get Info and the Locked checkbox. The Mac User Guide article “Save a document as a PDF” starts from the document’s File > Print command, then the PDF button or PDF pop-up menu and Save as PDF. Security Options is where that article says you can require passwords for opening the document, copying from the document, and printing the document. It names Preview as an example of a PDF viewer, together with Adobe Acrobat. The Inspector article’s Encryption inspector “views encryption and permission information for a password-protected PDF.” Its introduction also lists file size as information you can view. Setting the password remains the Export article.

Official documentation for this section

Scope of this guide

We read the linked Apple Preview User Guide and Mac User Guide pages on 27 October 2026 and wrote this guide from them. We did not install, run or time Preview, open a PDF, set a password, encrypt a file, or reopen a protected file for this guide, and nothing here is a hands-on test result. Menus can differ by the macOS version named on the guide page; check what your own screen shows. The pages checked do not display a separate price for Preview. This guide quotes the current page and the pages addressed to macOS 10.15, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 26.