Decrypt

This command decrypts inFile and removes password protection. If provided the decrypted PDF will be written to outFile and ìnFile remains untouched. Have a look at some examples.

Usage

pdfcpu decrypt [-upw userpw] [-opw ownerpw] inFile [outFile]

Flags

name	description	required
upw	user password	no
opw	owner password	no

Common Flags

name	description	values
v(erbose)	turn on logging
vv	verbose logging
q(uiet)	quiet mode
-o(ffline)	disable http traffic
c(onf)	config dir	$path, disable
opw	owner password
upw	user password
u(nit)	display unit	po(ints),in(ches),cm,mm

Arguments

name	description	required
inFile	encrypted PDF input file	yes
outFile	PDF output file	no

Matrix

The following matrix is a result of the intrinsics of how PDF encryption works:

encrypted using	needed for decryption	use case
opw	-	reset permissions
upw	upw	remove open doc password & reset permissions
opw and upw	opw or upw	remove open doc password & reset permissions

Examples

Decrypt a file that has only the owner password set. This will also reset all permissions, providing full access. You don’t need to provide any password:

$ pdfcpu encrypt -opw opw test.pdf
writing test.pdf ...

$ pdfcpu decrypt test.pdf 
writing test.pdf ...

Decrypt a file that has only the user password set. This will remove the open doc password and also reset all permissions, providing full access. You need to provide the user password:

$ pdfcpu encrypt -upw upw test.pdf
writing test.pdf ...

$ pdfcpu decrypt test.pdf
Please provide the correct password

$ pdfcpu decrypt -upw upw test.pdf 
writing test.pdf ...

Decrypt a file that is protected by both the user password and the owner password. This also removes the open doc password and resets all permissions providing full access. You will need to provide either of the two passwords:

$ pdfcpu encrypt -opw opw -upw upw test.pdf
writing test.pdf ...

$ pdfcpu decrypt test.pdf
Please provide the correct password

$ pdfcpu decrypt -upw upw test.pdf 
writing test.pdf ...

$ pdfcpu encrypt -opw opw -upw upw test.pdf
writing test.pdf ...

$ pdfcpu decrypt test.pdf
Please provide the correct password

$ pdfcpu decrypt -opw opw test.pdf 
writing test.pdf ...