This is an exemplary duplicate of this Ubuntu question.
I have a number of PDF files that have been sent to me encrypted with a password, which happens to be the same for all PDFs for simplicity. I have no reason to keep the password when I store those files in my permanent archives, nor to type it every time I open those files.
I could use the linked Q&A to build a Docker-based solution to strip the password from the pdf files, or I could ask here if the same is possible with Windows 10.
I have access to choco
if I need some packages.
Best Answer
I think I did it.
Step one: use
qpdf
.As a choco user
Secondly, use the following PowerShell one-liner (I couldn't parallelize it because PS gave me an error). Takes a few seconds per file
I was extremely confident running the script wild into production because I had a strong backup, and I had to restore it a couple of times.
Everyone around has suggested to make a backup before running live.
qpdf
won't do anything if the file is not encrypted.I will amend the question accordingly, but the script assumes the password is the same for all files