Email a contract often enough and sooner or later the address is wrong. Two clients with similar names, or autocomplete picking the wrong one. If the file simply opens, there's nothing you can do after the fact.
An open password means a misdirected file is still a closed file. Plenty of companies also require encryption on anything they receive.
Step by step
- 1Have the contract ready as a PDF.
- 2Open the password tool with the button below and upload it.
- 3Enter the password needed to open it, then type the same value again to confirm.
- 4Open the downloaded file on another device to check that it really does ask.
Worth knowing first
- This controls opening only. Once the file is open, printing and copying are both allowed. To restrict those as well, use PDF Permissions.
- There's no recovery if you forget it. Everything runs in your browser, so we don't have the password either. Keep an unprotected original somewhere safe.
- Send the password through a different channel than the file. Putting both in the same email defeats the point.
- Avoid the obvious guesses — the client's name, today's date. The Password Generator will make one if nothing comes to mind.