Credit card statements, broker documents and tax-deduction papers sent by e-mail often arrive as PDFs that ask for a password every time. Here is what those passwords usually are, how to remove the password from your own file when you know it, and how to add one before sending personal documents.
In short
- Tired of typing the password on your own file: use unlock PDF, enter the current password and get a copy without one.
- Sending personal documents: use protect PDF to encrypt with AES-256.
- Don’t know the password: our tool can’t and won’t unlock it; contact whoever sent the document.
Every tool runs in your browser. Neither your file nor your password is sent anywhere.
What e-Statement passwords usually are
Many issuers use your birth date, in different formats:
| Issuer | Password as they describe it |
|---|---|
| Central The1 card | Birth date in CE years: born 5 January 1985 → 05Jan1985 |
| Krungsri Firstchoice | The same CE format (for e-mail, or app versions below 2.53.0) |
| Umay+ | 9 characters, birth date in Buddhist Era years, ddMmmyyyy |
| Bualuang Securities | Account holder’s birth date in CE years (documents in the Streaming app) |
Some use CE years, some BE years. If yours doesn’t work, check the issuer’s e-mail or website. We found no official page from several major banks stating their file-password format, so they aren’t listed.
How PDF passwords work
The PDF 1.7 specification (ISO 32000-1) allows two passwords:
- User password, which Adobe calls the document open password: needed to open and view the file.
- Owner password, or permissions password: restricts printing, editing, copying and changing security settings.
The specification also notes that once a file is opened and decrypted, a reader technically has the whole content; permissions depend on the reader respecting them. To stop others reading a file, set an open password.
Encryption: the PDF Association explains that PDF 2.0 (ISO 32000-2:2017) added 256-bit AES and deprecated shorter key lengths, which had become open to practical attacks. Our tool uses AES-256.
Removing the password from your own file
- Open unlock PDF and choose the file.
- Type the file’s current password.
- Download the copy without a password.
If the password is wrong, the page says so; it also tells you if the file has no password. Adobe Acrobat likewise removes a password only once the file is open, asking for the permissions password if needed.
Look after unlocked files: anyone can read a file without a password. To combine several months of statements, unlock them, use merge PDF, then add a new password.
Not knowing the password: section 7 of Thailand’s Computer Crime Act B.E. 2550 makes unlawfully accessing computer data protected by an access measure not meant for you punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine of up to 40,000 baht, or both. If it’s your own document and you’ve forgotten the password, ask the issuer to send it again.
Adding a password before sending
- Open protect PDF and choose the file.
- Set the password and confirm it; at least 6 characters is advisable.
- Download the encrypted file.
Choose it well: Adobe advises strong, unique passwords that mix upper and lower case, numbers and symbols, avoid easily guessed details such as names or birth dates, and are shared through a secure method, for example sending the file by e-mail and the password by phone or chat.
If you forget it, we can’t recover it, because we never see or store passwords. Keep it somewhere safe.
For businesses: section 37(1) of Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 requires data controllers to put appropriate security measures in place against loss, access, use, change or disclosure of personal data without authority. Password-protecting files containing customer or staff data before sending them, such as payslips, is one way to help.
Note
This article is based on the websites of Central The1 Card, Krungsri Firstchoice, Umay+ and Bualuang Securities, Adobe’s edition of the PDF 32000-1:2008 specification (copy in the Internet Archive), the PDF Association, Adobe help pages, the consolidated Computer Crime Act on the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society website and the Personal Data Protection Act on the PDPC website, read on 30 September 2026. Issuers may change their password formats. This is general information, not legal advice.
