How Guaranteed Recovery Works
Upload Your PDF
Upload your password-protected PDF. We automatically detect the encryption type and check if it qualifies for guaranteed recovery.
We Decrypt Your File
Our servers perform a complete key recovery in approximately 5 minutes. No password guessing needed — we break the encryption directly.
Download & Pay
Once decrypted, you preview the result and pay $39.99. If for any reason we can't decrypt it, you pay nothing.
Which PDFs Qualify for Guaranteed Recovery?
Guaranteed Recovery
- Adobe Acrobat 3.0 (1996)
- Adobe Acrobat 4.0 (1999)
- Adobe Acrobat 5.0 (2001-2003)
- 40-bit RC4 encryption
Standard Recovery
- Adobe Acrobat 6.0+ (2003+)
- 128-bit RC4 encryption
- AES-128 / AES-256
- Password hints improve success
How Do I Know Which Encryption My PDF Uses?
You don't need to know! Simply upload your file and our system detects the encryption type automatically within seconds.
As a general rule, if your PDF was created before 2008 with an older version of Adobe Acrobat, it very likely uses 40-bit encryption and qualifies for guaranteed recovery.
Common scenarios where older PDFs are found:
Why Free "Unlock PDF" Tools Don't Work
Popular tools like Smallpdf, iLovePDF, and PDF24 can only remove owner (permissions) passwords — the kind that restricts printing, copying, or editing. These tools require you to already know the open password.
If you've forgotten the password that prevents you from opening the file entirely, you need actual encryption recovery — not simple password removal.
Our approach is fundamentally different. We don't guess your password. For older PDFs, we break the 40-bit encryption key directly — testing all possible keys until we find the right one. This is why the success rate is 100%, regardless of password length or complexity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Guaranteed Recovery
Newer PDFs? Recovery PRO — $9.99 + $39.99
Your Privacy
TLS 1.3 encrypted upload
Only encrypted header analyzed
Document content never accessed
Automatic deletion within 24 hours
Zero-knowledge processing