How can I password protect a PDF file without Adobe Acrobat? Since Microsoft Office 2010, it allows you to export a Word document to a PDF file or protect an existing PDF document with a password. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps to password protect a PDF document with Word 2016 / 2013 / 2010.

How to Password Protect PDF Document with Microsoft Word?

1. Create your document or open an existing PDF document using Microsoft Word.
2. Click the File menu and then select the Save As tab. Browse to a location where you would like to save the PDF file.

   

3. In the Save As dialog box that appears, select PDF (*.pdf) from the Save as type: drop-down box.

   

4. Click the Options button at the bottom.

   

5. At the bottom of the Options window, check the box next to “Encrypt the document with a password” and then click OK.

   

6. Enter the password you want to encrypt the PDF file twice and then click OK.

   

7. When you’re back to the Save As dialog box, enter a name for the PDF file and click the Save button.
8. Now, if you open that PDF file with Adobe Reader or Microsoft Edge browser, you’ll be prompted to enter the document open password before you can view or edit it.

   

That’s it!