3 Ways on How to Make a PDF File Unreadable

Data is becoming a new currency for digital hackers to attack someone’s reputation and resources. Whether you’ve personal information, confidential documents, or financial or transaction records, keeping them unprotected is miserable. To secure your data, many users search for how to make a PDF file unreadable to prevent the chances of misuse and compromise. This guide will share the methods to make PDF read only or unreadable using strong encryption algorithms and processes. Now, let’s dive into it. 

What Does the Meaning of Unreadable PDF?

An unreadable PDF commonly refers to a highly encrypted document, stopping the act of opening, viewing, and reading the document content. This is one of the advanced modes of protection to lock a PDF from editing and tampering with the data. Moreover, the unreadable security of the PDF makes the document look scrambled or failed to open. Additionally, it allows users to make the secure transmission of confidential PDFs like financial statements, business secrets, and other privileged information. 

To make PDF text not readable or unchangeable, some robust encryption algorithms are used namely AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) 128-bit and 256. These types of security are popular to make the document appear unreadable to the viewers. Moreover, it helps to meet your industrial standards and data protection acts like GDPR. Using these protections, you can ensure peace of mind while reducing the fear of data modification or exposure. 

Now, we have discussed the major mode for encryption to make PDF unreadable. So, let’s take a close look at the benefits of using this security on sensitive documents.

Why Make a PDF File Not Readable?

Making the PDF document unreadable offers several benefits. Moreover, this protection revolves around applying password protection and high-level encryption to enhance document security and integrity. This helps to safeguard the entire document from unwanted editing, content repurposing, and even reading the file. Below are the major benefits of making the PDF unreadable:

• Stop Direct Access: Sensitive documents like legal agreements, contracts, and more need to be protected from digital threats. Making the document unreadable helps to block unauthorized viewers from reading or accessing the data. 

• Prevent Modification: Whether it is accidental or intentional edits, both can harm the document’s originality. Here, using top-tier encryption prevents viewers from editing, copying, and printing the document, converting it to an unchangeable file. 

• Comply With Data Privacy Acts: Governments or many industries like healthcare, finance, etc must follow the mandate of data protection acts to eliminate legal penalties or fines. Using these restrictions, industries can adhere to data privacy standards. 

Overall, these are the benefits of making your document unreadable. It ensures data protection, security, and compliance with industrial standards. Now, let’s move to learn the methods for how to make PDF not readable and unchangeable. 

How to Make a PDF File Unreadable – 3 Ways

To make PDF unreadable, it is essential to know about advanced encryption standards like AES 128-bit and 256-bit. These algorithms are crucial for protecting confidential or privileged documents from unauthorized or malicious acts. Moreover, this security is useful for industries like legal, healthcare, finance, etc. Here are the online to offline techniques or tools for making the document unreadable, take a look below:

1. Online Website to Protect PDFs

2. Adobe Acrobat Pro Tool to Make PDF Not Readable 

3. SysTools PDF Encrypt Software to Make a PDF File Not Readable

Now, let’s understand these methods in detail. 

How to Make PDF Unreadable With Online PDF Website 

Wondering how to make a PDF file unreadable, try online PDF tools — the go-to choice to create protected documents. Some tools like PDF2Go, Smallpdf, iLovePDF, Sejda, etc, are commonly popular free online platforms for making high password encrypted PDFs. Using these services, you can easily save the secured document to reduce the chances of data breach and compromise. Most importantly, tools like Smallpdf support user and owner restrictions to ensure data security with ease. 

To use these solutions, you don’t need to depend on third-party applications or offline software. Here, without any sign ups, you can make your document unchangeable, copyable, and unreadable. Here are the steps to make PDF text not readable using online tools:

1. Open a website e.g. Smallpdf on any browser. 
2. Use option > Choose Files to add the document. 
3. Now, set the desired protection > download the file. 

Of course! In just 3 simple steps, you can secure your sensitive document from digital harm and breach. Additionally, there are no ads or file sizes that can create hindrance in your workflow. Despite these benefits, there are some flaws of online tools that you should know before using them. 

Cons of Online PDF Websites:

• Online tools are vulnerable; these websites are capable of bypassing data protection standards and breach sensitive information. 

• These websites aren’t reliable enough to make PDF unreadable. Moreover, it doesn’t provide an encryption feature to secure the entire document. 

• Besides the above disadvantages, the online services offer only basic features. Additionally, they can harm the document’s formatting and originality. 

How to Make a PDF File Unreadable Using Adobe Acrobat Pro Tool

To make a PDF file not readable, use the Adobe Acrobat Pro tool, one of the most advanced and leading software to protect text with strong encryption. Using this robust tool, you can enable protection like password security and owner restrictions like editing, content copying, printing, and adding annotations. Besides this, this software has a built-in feature to safeguard the PDF metadata and elements at once. 

Using this professional tool, you can meet your industrial standards for making the PDFs unreadable. Here are the steps to make a PDF file not readable using Acrobat:

1. Open the document on the Adobe Acrobat Pro tool. 
2. Use options like Tools > pick Protect > Encrypt. 
3. Under the Encryption > enable the password or owner security. 
4. Lastly, use  OK and tab Save > download the unreadable PDF. 

Adobe Acrobat is a useful tool to make PDF unreadable. Using this tool, you can encrypt your document with a password, preventing access. After protecting the document, users might experience issues like can’t highlight text in PDF. However, there are a few challenges that can create hindrances, read them below.

Drawbacks of Adobe Acrobat Tool: 

• Adobe Acrobat is counted as a premium software that costs high fees. Moreover, the plans are based on an expensive subscription structure. 

• Acrobat software can bring issues like Adobe Acrobat not responding. It prevents you from accessing the tool effortlessly. 

•  Similar to online tools, Adobe Acrobat offers only basic features. Moreover, there is no way to make the documents unreadable. 

How to Make PDF Unreadable – SysTools PDF Encrypt Tool

If you’re searching how to make a PDF file unreadable, try SysTools Lock PDF Tool, one of the sophisticated and standalone software to convert the document into an unreadable file. This tool is counted as an all-in-one solution that offers basic to advanced features for protecting PDFs from unauthorized access. In other words, it is the best way to block the viewers from tampering with the document. 

Using this pro software, you can enable the latest protections like open document passwords and restrictions such as printing, text copying, editing, extracting pages, and more. Besides document security, this robust tool allows you to make the PDF unreadable by imposing military-grade encryption like AES 128 and 256 at once. Now, let’s move to learn the workings of this pro tool. 

Guide for How to Make a PDF File Unreadable 

1. Install the SysTools PDF Encrypting Tool.
2. “Add Files” to add the valuable files. 
3. Pick the “Change” button to browse the path > Next. 
4. Use “Apply Document Restrictions” and enable it. 
5. Move to Encryption Type > use the necessary protection. 
6. Tab to Lock button to make your PDF not readable file. 

Concluding Words 

In the above guide, we have listed 3 ways for how to make a PDF file unreadable. By using these pro tools, you can make any valuable document unreadable for the viewers. Compared to all the methods, we suggest you choose SysTools PDF encrypting tool, one of the cost-effective and secure solutions for making the PDF unchangeable file. Here, you can try the demo version to discover the functionalities of this tool.