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Why did Preview lock my PDF after I edited it??

I'm so fed up with this issue, seriously! I've got Monetery 12.6.5, right? So, here's the deal: I download this PDF, edit it like I'm supposed to, save it, and BAM! Out of nowhere, it decides to lock up and demands a "Document Open Password."


Now, here's the kicker. It's one of those official government forms you can find on their website, all ready to be filled out and filed. But guess what? I can't even ask the owner for the password because it doesn't exist!


The funny thing is, if I use Adobe to fill it out, everything works like a charm. But I prefer using the preview option for a bunch of reasons. It helps me fix the **** WRONG presets, you know? But it's always a gamble. I fill out this form like 4-5 times a week, and every 2-3 weeks, one of them decides to go rogue and locks up on me. It occasionally happens to other PDF files as well. Beyond frustrating.


Why the heck does it lock up? What kind of password is it setting? And why does it only happen occasionally? It's beyond frustrating. I end up wasting 4-5 hours of my precious time whenever this stupid thing locks up.


NOBODY SET THE PASSWORD.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Jun 23, 2023 6:08 PM

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Posted on Apr 6, 2024 7:52 AM

I just had this happen (gotta love tax season). I right clicked the locked doc, and selected "open with" and opened it in Chrome and was able to see my edits. When I re-saved the PDF from Chrome it was fine.


Annoying but easy workaround, hope this helps!

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28 replies

Jan 7, 2024 8:51 PM in response to LongDoggie

There earliest reference I find to this exact bug is from 2012. How could Apple ignore such a nasty bug for over a decade?!


Edit: I too had the problem with a (long) government form PDF file downloaded directly from a .gov website and another, also generated by the federal government but downloaded from an email I recieved. That one, actually had an owner password set and I knew what it was until I saved the file and that password no longer worked to unlock the file. Doh!


At some point, I thought something weird was going on and googled the problem, finding many reports but no real answers, except to never use Preview to edit a pdf file, not if you value your time and effort, and a lot of "experts" stating that Preview doesn't work that way, but yet it does, which is kind of the definition of a bug.

Apr 30, 2024 1:29 PM in response to muffin21

muffin21 wrote:

Thanks but it doesn’t even open it to me in chrome. It still asks for the password when I try to open it with a browser or any other way…

I've heard some people say they could still view the PDFs in Safari. I'm not sure about that.


I know that you can use Preview's File > Revert to > Browser all versions to find the last uncorrupted version of the PDF.

Aug 19, 2024 11:46 PM in response to muffin21

Annoying bug, as I have to fill the same government form quite often. But here's my workaround: I downloaded the pdf, then opened it in PDFgear. Then in PDFgear I set my own password for the file and saved it. Now even preview recognises my password and I can use the same copy of the pdf over and over again (of course every time "save as" with a different name). Voilà. Bit of effort but at least I feel it was worth it.


The other small extra effort here is that PDFGear makes itself as a default app, but that's easy to change.

Jul 9, 2024 8:16 PM in response to muffin21

Same. Here’s my workaround:

I filled out the form, did a “save as” with a changed name to the m2 desktop, ‘printed’ that as a .pdf with a new name, opened that in preview and used the preview edit tools to make changes. Awkward, but better than losing it.

I’m surprised Apple has nothing to say about this basic use of a computer. I’d have thought they’d be able to figure it out.

Apple’s entire staff incapable of the solution?

Aug 8, 2024 5:30 PM in response to filipe124

filipe124 wrote:

If they ever did "fix" it, it came back. It has been happening to me, using Sonoma 14.6, for the last weeks (the last time was yesterday).

I'll be happy to take a look at the file if you want to post a link to the PDF. So far, very, very few people have ever done that. For the few times that anyone did post a link, I've been able to confirm the bug exists (over a year ago) or confirm that the bug is fixed (more recently).

Aug 26, 2024 10:48 AM in response to muffin21

I also faced this issue today, and apparently I kept trying until I came across this page.

I tried opening the doc in chrome as suggested by few folks, didn't work for me.


In the end, I had to unprotect the document (Check the options under File menu option <password/edit permissions>) before trying to edit, and then I made the changes and saved it (I also copied this edited doc as a backup just incase it doesn't work) and then later I protected it back. This worked and can be tried out.

Why did Preview lock my PDF after I edited it??

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