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Level 1

12 points

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

Top-ranking reply

Ricky_Sommerfeld

Level 1

9 points

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

Sep 16, 2024 9:53 AM in response to akhiljha

You don't have to "unprotect" the document after saving, but instead, while the document is open, hit File >> Edit Permissions and Check "Require Password to Open Document" and add the same password again, and you can reopen it again. That worked for me today.

RJVA

Level 1

14 points

Oct 8, 2024 9:02 AM in response to muffin21

Happened to me on my tax returns docs that were sent to me from my accountant. I opened with the password the accountant gave me, added my signatures with Preview, then saved the PDF. I couldn't open it with my password to check it after that.

So I opened the original again, signed it, then changed BOTH passwords in permissions. The password used to open the doc AND the owners password. After doing that I I was able to reopen after saving. I first tried only re-entering the password used to open the PDF but that didnt work. I had to change both passwords.

BDAqua

Level 10

245,117 points

Apr 6, 2024 9:05 AM in response to Ricky_Sommerfeld

👍

muffin21 Author

Level 1

12 points

Apr 30, 2024 1:10 PM in response to Ricky_Sommerfeld

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…

etresoft

Level 9

50,608 points

Aug 7, 2024 10:20 AM in response to filipe124

filipe124 wrote:

It is unacceptable that this is still happening in 2024!

The last time I checked, Apple fixed this bug in Sonoma.

etresoft

Level 9

50,608 points

Aug 7, 2024 11:51 AM in response to becorson

becorson wrote:

Nope, not fixed. Running macOS Sonoma 14.6.

Then post a link to a PDF file that demonstrates the problem.

Aug 28, 2024 12:48 AM in response to retronym

Printing to another PDF worked, and it was no longer password locked. However, the ability to edit the new PDF was lost.

Stupot43

Level 1

14 points

Sep 12, 2024 10:57 PM in response to Ricky_Sommerfeld

This was extremely helpful and saved me a lot of wasted time, thank you very much!

Jul 24, 2024 2:53 PM in response to muffin21

Same problem here. Ridiculous, that I gotta take my PDFs to Google Workspace now. Maybe it's time to move on from iOS and Apple. Their software keeps getting buggier, they don't seem to care, reminds me of Microsoft. Apple hasn't really come up with any strong innovations since Jobs passed. All down hill from here it seems.