How to Encrypt a PDF File for Email to Secure Sharing?

In the digital world, sending and receiving emails is becoming routine for everyone. Here’s a catch—many intruders find it an opportunity and tamper with highly confidential documents like financial records, transaction history, business contracts, and more. Encrypting these files, especially a PDF document, is a crucial element before pressing the “send” button. Fortunately, this guide covers how to encrypt a PDF file for email to ensure secure sharing. This is the best way to organize PDF files for better accessibility and security. So, let’s dive into it.

What is the Meaning of PDF Encryption?

Sending the attachments via email providers like Gmail, Thunderbird, Outlook, and more common. These days, information is shared or stored in a PDF document due to its simplicity and popularity. Unfortunately, an unprotected document is easier to tamper with and modify. Here comes the need to encrypt the PDF for security and stress-free sharing.

Speaking about PDF encryption, a kind of security layer for preventing malicious or unauthorized users from accessing, viewing, and editing the document. This is considered the toughest security measure that converts the readable content into scrambled text. Unlike the document password, it is more complex and stronger to crack.

Using this protection, you can encrypt the PDF for email. Now, take a look at the modes of PDF encryption securely:

• 128-bit AES: A standard type of PDF security to limit direct access. Moreover, it is a robust mode of security, preventing the chances of loss and data leakage via sending or attaching the document via email.

• 256-bit AES: Currently, it is among the strongest and effective security algorithms used for protecting highly sensitive documents. It helps to safeguard the PDFs while controlling the accessibility and actions of the users.

Overall, these are the major modes of encryption that completely secure data from access, printing, and tampering. Now, let’s deeply discuss the reasons to enable PDF encryption for emails.

Why Encrypt a PDF File for Email?

These days, every professional uses email to send any information while attaching different types of attachments. It is among the least secure methods where an unauthorized user can anytime breach the data. To mitigate this risk factor, PDF encryption is the ultimate solution to make PDF read only file.

Below are the other benefits of encrypting a PDF for email:

• Eliminate the Chances of Direct Access: The encryption security stops users from opening or reading the confidential document. In this way, you can make an encrypted PDF and eliminate the chances of anonymous users who can tamper with the email.

• Block Document Copying and Editing: Encrypting the PDF for email is a proactive or preventive measure for restricting viewers from opening, editing, or copying. In this way, you can safeguard the original data after sharing it via email.

• Protect Sensitive Data: Many professionals distribute the contracts, bank statements, transaction records, etc., via email. Here, encrypting the attached PDF file makes it professional and provides peace of mind.

Overall, sending the encrypted PDF via email is useful. It makes both the sender and receiver stress-free when distributing the attached files over the online platforms and provides document security and maintains the privacy and security standards. So, let’s discover the methods.

How to Encrypt a PDF File for Email - 3 Best Methods

If you’re seeking how to encrypt a PDF for email, here are the 3 secure and free methods for protecting the PDF when sharing via email. Since data security is a serious concern for everyone. Hence, protecting the crucial files is among the preventive strategies for users when uploading them to any email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and more.

Here are the best ways on how to encrypt a PDF document for email:

1. Online PDF Tools to Encrypt & Password Protect a PDF File

2. Adobe Acrobat Tool to Create an Encrypted PDF for Email

3. SysTools PDF Encryptor Tool - The Ultimate Software

Now, let’s understand these techniques one after another.

How to Encrypt a PDF for Email for Free - Online PDF Tools

To encrypt the PDFs for free, try online tools like iLovePDF, PDF24 Tools, Smallpdf, etc. Using these tools, encrypt the PDF with password protection. From a user-friendly interface to handy functionalities, these platforms are becoming everyone's favored choice. Using these free tools, you can custom create the password for PDF files.

After encrypting the document, you can easily share the protected PDFs via email. Here, you won’t need to depend on any third-party application such as the Adobe Acrobat Pro tool. Now, follow the steps for how to encrypt a PDF file for email for free using online tools:

1. Start by visiting the online PDF tools like iLovePDF.
2. Choose Files that you want to encrypt for emails.
3. Enter the required password > re-use it > Lock.
4. Now, download the document > share it via email.

Limitations of Online Tools: Online PDF tools are useful for ordinary documents. On the other hand, uploading the highly sensitive PDF files online poses grave risk of data leakage and misuse. Additionally, there is another danger, i.e., formatting error. Hence, we would suggest looking for the more secure and trusted tool for better security and privacy.

How to Encrypt a PDF File for Email - Adobe Acrobat Pro Tool

For secure sending or sharing of PDFs via email, encryption protection is the ultimate medium. Try the Adobe Acrobat Pro tool, the robust and trusted solution for safeguarding documents in one go. Whether it’s financial records, contact list, business contracts, etc, this software effectively works for encrypting the PDFs with password protection.

Using this security tool, you can securely share the encrypted PDF files via email. Moreover, this software provides advanced features and other PDF protection measures like PDF editing, printing, and copying permissions. Here are the steps to follow for encrypting a PDF for email via the Adobe Acrobat Tool:

1. To set encryption on PDF > download the Adobe Acrobat Pro Tool.
2. Move to Tools > Protect and tap the Encrypt feature, and look at Security.
3. Now, select “Encrypt with Password” and then set the document password.

Note: Create a strong password for PDF that contains special characters, a combination of upper & lower case, numbers, and more. Ensure making a password of at least 8-12 characters for secure sharing of the document.

4. Re-enter the password and then save the PDF document.

5. Lastly, compose the email on any email provider like Gmail, Yahoo, etc.

6. After composing the email, attach the PDF file > press the send button.

Limitations of Adobe Acrobat Tool: Adobe Acrobat is an advanced yet costly software. Here, you need to pay for subscription plans that aren’t flexible for many professional or business workers. Additionally, there is no dedicated feature for PDF encryption. So, discover the alternative methods for encrypting PDF for emails.

How to Encrypt a PDF for Email - SysTools PDF Encrypting Tool

After two methods, if you’re still searching for how to encrypt a PDF for email, download SysTools PDF Locker. It is among the ideal and cost-effective tools to send encrypted PDFs via email. Using this independent tool, you can choose the right protection for your document. In other words, this software provides modes of security like a PDF password, owner password, and lastly, encryption protection.

The other features of this tool include batch processing, sleek interface, handling of large PDFs, no file size restriction, etc. Moreover, it allows users to enable different types of PDF encryption, such as 128-bit AES, 256-bit AES, and more. In this way, you can instantly encrypt the PDF for email. Follow the steps for how to encrypt a PDF document for email using SysTools Software:

1. Run the SysTools PDF Encrypting Utility on your system.
2. “Add Files or Folder” feature to upload the sensitive PDF document.
3. “Change” button to set the desired location for the resultant PDF file.
4. In the next interface, choose Encryption type such as 256-bit AES.
5. Lastly, use the Lock key to encrypt the PDF and then send it via email.

Concluding Words

In the above how-to guide, we have listed the 3 ways for how to encrypt a PDF file for email. Using these effective methods, you can instantly secure the PDF files before sending them via email. Compared to all the ways, try SysTools PDF encrypting solution, it is more reliable and budget-friendly for everyone.