Protect PDF — Restrict Print, Copy, Edit, Annotate
Apply viewer-honored restrictions so Adobe Reader and most PDF readers grey out Print, Copy, Edit, or Annotate. Free, in-browser, and no signup. Note: this is the Adobe-style permissions flag, not real document locking — see the FAQ for what that means.
Free • No signup • Secure
How to use protect pdf — restrict print, copy, edit, annotate
Open your PDF
Drag and drop your PDF onto the upload area, or click to choose a file. The file stays on your device — there is no server upload.
Pick what to restrict
Tick which actions to disable: Printing, Copying text, Editing the document, or adding Annotations. You can also optionally hide the menu bar and toolbar so the document opens in distraction-free mode.
Apply restrictions
USA Sky PDF writes a /Perms permissions dictionary into the document in your browser. Adobe Reader and most well-behaved viewers read that dictionary and grey out the matching menu items.
Download the restricted PDF
Click Download to save the restricted .pdf to your device. Recipients who open it in Adobe Reader, Chrome, or Preview will see the disabled actions just as you configured them.
Why use USA Sky PDF
Your file stays on your device
Nothing is uploaded. The restrictions are added entirely in your browser, and the new file is saved straight to your downloads folder.
Adobe-style permissions
Disable Print, Copy, Edit, or Annotate using the standard PDF /Perms /P bitfield (PDF 1.7 §7.6.3.2). The same mechanism Adobe Acrobat writes for its permissions-only mode.
Distraction-free reading mode
Optionally set /ViewerPreferences hints (HideMenubar, HideToolbar) so readers open the document with a cleaner chrome — useful for presentations and shared reading.
Free with no signup
No account, no email, no watermarks. There's nothing to upgrade for this tool because nothing leaves your device.
Frequently asked questions
Does this actually lock the PDF?
No — this is viewer-honored restriction, not a hard lock. We write the standard /Perms permissions dictionary that Adobe Reader, Chrome, Preview, and most professional readers honor by greying out the restricted menus. The PDF's content itself is not transformed. A determined user with a different tool could strip the restrictions — that's the well-known trade-off of viewer-honored permissions, and it's the same trade-off Acrobat makes in its permissions-only mode.
When is this useful, then?
When you want to signal intent to most readers — "please don't print this", "do not copy this draft" — and have well-behaved viewers honor it. Examples: internal drafts, review copies, board packets shared in Acrobat, exam papers handed out for use in standard readers. It's a polite barrier, not a hard one.
When is it NOT enough?
When you need true content protection — e.g. legal contracts where copying must be impossible, or financial documents that need strict access control. For those, you need a PDF where the content itself is locked behind a key required to open the file — which USA Sky PDF doesn't offer today. Acrobat Pro or other dedicated tools can produce that kind of PDF.
Will Adobe Acrobat respect these restrictions?
Yes. Adobe Reader and Acrobat read the /Perms dictionary on open and grey out the matching menu items — Print, Edit, Copy, or Annotate. Chrome's built-in PDF viewer and macOS Preview do the same.
Is restricting a PDF really free?
Yes. Free with no signup and no per-conversion limit.