Decrypt password-protected PDF in Python.

decrypt_pdf.py

# Decrypt password-protected PDF in Python.
# cleaned-up version of http://stackoverflow.com/a/26537710/329263
# 
# Requirements:
# pip install PyPDF2
#
# Usage: decrypt_pdf('encrypted.pdf', 'decrypted.pdf', 'secret_password')

from PyPDF2 import PdfFileReader, PdfFileWriter

def decrypt_pdf(input_path, output_path, password):
  with open(input_path, 'rb') as input_file, \
    open(output_path, 'wb') as output_file:
    reader = PdfFileReader(input_file)
    reader.decrypt(password)

    writer = PdfFileWriter()

    for i in range(reader.getNumPages()):
      writer.addPage(reader.getPage(i))

    writer.write(output_file)

if __name__ == '__main__':
  # example usage:
  decrypt_pdf('encrypted.pdf', 'decrypted.pdf', 'secret_password')

How to Use This Code

Below is the updated version with support for PyPDF2 > 3.0

from PyPDF2 import PdfReader, PdfWriter

def decrypt_pdf(input_path, output_path, password):
    with open(input_path, 'rb') as input_file, \
            open(output_path, 'wb') as output_file:
        reader = PdfReader(input_file)
        reader.decrypt(password)

        writer = PdfWriter()

        for i in range(len(reader.pages)):
            writer.add_page(reader.pages[i])

        writer.write(output_file)

Thank You Bro , You're Awesome !

Great Sir, Thank you

I have some important PDF files containing standards and regulations. These files are encrypted with a plugin for a PDF viewer like Acrobat or Foxit. The plugin (FIL30P3N) allowed me to temporarily view the PDFs. Unfortunately, that permission has expired. Now I can't access these valuable PDFs.

Is it possible to recover them using Python?

@nairoleon For decryption you need the password. With it you can open the PDF in any PDF reader.

This script serves a different purpose. It makes a copies the contents of the an encrypted PDF (using the password for decryption) into a new PDF which does not use any encryption.

Thanks @bzamecnik . My pdf files do not ask for a password to open them, only this error appears in any pdf viewer when I try to open.