Removing a PDF Password in Monterey

I am sure that if I had the same pdf as you, I would also not be able to use Save as PDF.

However, as I said before, just having a password is not enough. The ones I have with a password do not allow Export as PDF, but DO allow Print->Save as PDF.

I have also seen similar pdf that did not allow printing to pdf, long before Monterey.

It depends on how the document was created.

Using Acrobat there many more options than what you can do otherwise.

None of us knows what Apple may be doing.

Try this exercise:

1) Create a password protected PDF in your Monterey mac

2) Open it, and print to PDF (*)

3) In my mac, the resulting PDF is not password protected. Is it in yours?

(*) If step 2 is not allowed, it suggests that the PDF was created with protection against printing

My point is that while there seem to have been changes in Monterey, this seems to come down to how the PDF was created in the first place. It has not been said in this thread, but it seems to be with PDF created (presumably with the full Acrobat) with extra protections.

Since upgrading to Monterey, the option 'export as PDF' is ALLWAYS greyed out in Preview, no matter what PDF file I have open, password or not. Print as PDF seems to work as long as printing is allowed in the document, otherwise also greyed out. In Safari the option 'export as PDF' seems to work as before.

I am not sure someone has already given this answer or not (couldn't see it). We can open the PDF in Safari or Chrome, then use 'print to PDF'. That saves the file without password.

Use print as PDF in Google Chrome.

I did this for a password protected file on Monterey.

It works fine and we can get rid of the need to enter password.

I have exactly the same issue ... it always worked perfectly until I installed Monterey ... just to be clear the original poster and I both have the password to open and view the encrypted PDF ... in Preview's File Menu, Export as PDF is greyed out ... in the Print dialog box, some documents (opened on screen with password) have the Save as PDF (in the PDF pulldown menu option) greyed out, some don't ... but even in the case of those that don't, the saved documents still require the password to open, whereas in pre-Monterey versions of Preview, the saved document DID NOT require the password to open ...

Just did a test with Preview on a PDF with passwords on OPENING, MODiFY and PRINTING.

• if re-saved all password are hold
• if exported all passwords are hold
• if created trough Print -> Save as PDF passwords are gone for OPEN & PRINT, hold for MODIFY.

Not good, IMHO.

No, the general export function allows to set an export format including PDF and that works as far as I can tell. The separate menu item 'export as PDF' is greyed out if the file you have open is a PDF file, no matter what attributes or passwords. It is only available if the file you have open is not PDF, e.g. JPEG, PNG etc. Apparently Apple has decided that exporting a file as what it is is of no use other than circumventing password protection.

Found a way to get around this using Shortcuts in Monterey. The PDFs I get from my bank have editing disabled, used to be able to get around it by saving as PDF from the print menu, but that no longer works in Monterey. The shortcut below works for me, not sure how it works for PDFs you need to enter a PDF password to open in the first place, but it's a start :)

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/80ec1a027ffa4c75a86d02ecfb257147

I understand your issue, frustrating when something that should take a few seconds becomes a complex task. Useful to know about the method using a browser. If it is a small document like a bill I have reverted to making the pdf as large as I can and taking a screen shot of it and then making a pdf. But sounds like the browser method is easier.

These steps work for me:

Step 0: Open your PDF in Preview, enter the password

Step 1: File -> Export

Step 2: Click on Permissions

Step 3: Enter the PDF password on "Owner Password" and then check "Require Password To Open Document"

Step 4: Apply the setting and save the file

I am installing right now, so can’t test, but try printing to pdf. Does that work?

On Monterey, I've been able to strip all protections on a PDF that allows copying by going back to the source and redownloading it in Firefox (not Safari) as PDF with accessibility, open the print dialogue, then save as PDF.

I just got this working.

You go to `File > Export...`

In the Export dialogue, there's a `Permissions...` button, press it.

There'll be a Permissions region in the dialogue that appears. Check them all, and Enter the owner password (password for the PDF) in both the `Password` and `Verify` fields.

Press Apply.

Now when you press `Save`, the resulting exported PDF should no longer need a password to open.

Have you tried Chrome? Seems to be working for a file that I have...