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User profile for user: BlueOrange1
BlueOrange1 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Editable PDF is automatically encrypted

Hello community,


Since I installed Monterey 12.3.1 on my Macbook Pro it started to password protect all editable PDF files once they have been edited and saved. I am using the standard Mac Preview app.


At no point do I add a password or encrypt the files but when I try to re-open them I am being asked for an owner password. This has happened on forms sent to me by work, banks and government departments.


When I click on the inspector button the permission to insert, rotate or delete pages is the only one not granted.


Can anyone help with this as I am frustrated with constantly filling out forms only to be locked out of them when I try to re-access them.


Thanks in advance!

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.5

Posted on May 18, 2022 9:00 PM

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User profile for user: VikingOSX
VikingOSX
Community+ 2024
User level: Level 10
117,155 points

Posted on May 19, 2022 5:31 AM

Yesterday, on macOS 12.4, I opened a Word document in Word 16.61 and Saved it to PDF. Nothing to suggest it would be encrypted, but it is. However, there is a menu entry on the Preview File menu > Edit Permissions… where you enter your user password twice and the document is then unencrypted. You can also choose which user permissions are allowed on the PDF on that same panel.


After you annotate the PDF and save it, the next time you open it in Preview, it will automatically prompt you for your user password with this dialog:



and once you enter the password and click Unlock, it takes you straight to the same dialog as encountered in the first paragraph. This is a case of Apple going nuts Preview where simple PDF annotations become more annoying.


Using the free and current Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, you open a PDF that has not been touched by Apple's Preview (or saved by the current Word application), apply annotations to the PDF, save it, and be free from any default encryption nonsense. I tested that on macOS 12.4 with a PDF created in 2015. However, the Adobe application will honor any encryption placed on the PDF beforehand by Preview.


If you actually need to alter or augment the original PDF content, then etresoft's Master PDF Editor recommendation will do the job.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: VikingOSX
VikingOSX
Community+ 2024
User level: Level 10
117,155 points

May 19, 2022 5:31 AM in response to BlueOrange1

Yesterday, on macOS 12.4, I opened a Word document in Word 16.61 and Saved it to PDF. Nothing to suggest it would be encrypted, but it is. However, there is a menu entry on the Preview File menu > Edit Permissions… where you enter your user password twice and the document is then unencrypted. You can also choose which user permissions are allowed on the PDF on that same panel.


After you annotate the PDF and save it, the next time you open it in Preview, it will automatically prompt you for your user password with this dialog:



and once you enter the password and click Unlock, it takes you straight to the same dialog as encountered in the first paragraph. This is a case of Apple going nuts Preview where simple PDF annotations become more annoying.


Using the free and current Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, you open a PDF that has not been touched by Apple's Preview (or saved by the current Word application), apply annotations to the PDF, save it, and be free from any default encryption nonsense. I tested that on macOS 12.4 with a PDF created in 2015. However, the Adobe application will honor any encryption placed on the PDF beforehand by Preview.


If you actually need to alter or augment the original PDF content, then etresoft's Master PDF Editor recommendation will do the job.

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Editable PDF is automatically encrypted

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