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- How do I unlock a PDF that has a signed and certif.
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/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-do-i-unlock-a-pdf-that-has-a-signed-and-certified-signature-so-that-i-can-redact-information/td-p/10515781 May 08, 2019 May 08, 2019
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Is it possible to have an Adminstrator obtain the secure password for the signed document in order to unlock the PDF and redact?
Security digital signatures and esignatures Community guidelinesBe kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
1 Correct answer
Engaged , May 09, 2019 May 09, 2019 margueritek • Engaged , May 09, 2019 May 09, 2019Even if you had the password, redaction would change the page contents, so can't be applied to a signed document (it would break the signature)
7 Replies 7 Community Expert ,/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-do-i-unlock-a-pdf-that-has-a-signed-and-certified-signature-so-that-i-can-redact-information/m-p/10515782#M144153 May 08, 2019 May 08, 2019
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Is the document secured and signed?
Community guidelinesBe kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Community Expert ,/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-do-i-unlock-a-pdf-that-has-a-signed-and-certified-signature-so-that-i-can-redact-information/m-p/10515783#M144154 May 08, 2019 May 08, 2019
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The password used to encrypt the document can't be retrieved by anyone.
Community guidelinesBe kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-do-i-unlock-a-pdf-that-has-a-signed-and-certified-signature-so-that-i-can-redact-information/m-p/10515784#M144155 May 09, 2019 May 09, 2019
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Even if you had the password, redaction would change the page contents, so can't be applied to a signed document (it would break the signature)
Community guidelinesBe kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-do-i-unlock-a-pdf-that-has-a-signed-and-certified-signature-so-that-i-can-redact-information/m-p/12617453#M343268 Dec 26, 2021 Dec 26, 2021
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Simple, open the document in any browser and do print as pdf .
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the resulting file is unlocked and unsigned, do whatever you want with it with the acrobat reader.Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-do-i-unlock-a-pdf-that-has-a-signed-and-certified-signature-so-that-i-can-redact-information/m-p/13959105#M421109 Jul 24, 2023 Jul 24, 2023
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You are a genius. Thank you.
1 1 Upvote Community guidelinesBe kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-do-i-unlock-a-pdf-that-has-a-signed-and-certified-signature-so-that-i-can-redact-information/m-p/14359705#M446559 Jan 16, 2024 Jan 16, 2024
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Is there a way to do this on a Mac? I was able to "Print to Microsoft PDF" on my HP laptop to flatten the documents after being signed, but now that I have a Mac, I'm unable to do this or "print to pdf" after having the digital signatures applied. The document is completely locked.
Community guidelinesBe kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-do-i-unlock-a-pdf-that-has-a-signed-and-certified-signature-so-that-i-can-redact-information/m-p/14661901#M466109 Jun 04, 2024 Jun 04, 2024
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Hello everyone. I had a similar issue.
When I opened a PDF file that had a padlock icon on top left inside of Adobe Acrobat I did the following in order to print. It works. Try it. File… Export to… Microsoft Word > Word Document… Save as… Save (I chose to save it to my desktop)
Open up the Word Document. Go to the top of your screen and click on File… Print… click on PDF on bottom left… Save as… Save (I chose to save it to my desktop)
I saved the locked PDF file into a converted Microsoft Word document then a new PDF file from this Microsoft Word document so it did not have that padlock security password.
You can print from the Microsoft Word document you exported or print from the PDF file you had just made from the new Microsoft Word document with no padlock security passcode.
Hope this information helps. Paws up 🙂
