How to prevent downloading, copying and forwarding pdf file

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Did you mean:. Sign In. Occasional Contributor. Hi, I have selected the view only permission level in SharePoint. Is there a way to do this or is it a limitation? Thank You. Labels: Labels: SharePoint Online. Cian Allner. PDF is also supported.

Hello SunilK90 As per my expierence, yes you can restrict the files download on SharePoint Online, by gaving view only permission, which prevent end user from downloading files on Sharepoint. Hi Mahhus , Thank you for your reply. Please let me know if you know about this. Thank You Regards Sunil.

Hi SunilK90 Have you tried to restrict downloading the office files like excel, or word using the IRM, if not please check and provide me your feedback. The simplest way to do this is to not have the facility available to begin with. Some products use JavaScript to disable the Save As menu item or short-keys, but JavaScript can be easily removed or turned off in a browser environment and so cannot be used securely.

The only documents that can be copied are protected PDF files and they are useless to unauthorized recipients as they need the correct decryption keys to open them. You might want to think again. The way every browser works is by caching information to disk. And browser environments are possibly the least secure of all because if no software is installed on a device then you have no control over the actual environment so stopping screen grabbing and printing to file drivers is not possible.

See Secure Downloads for additional information on stopping downloads and copying. To stop the browser caching the PDF on the users system, they convert your PDF files to images when you upload them — so the document is no longer a PDF file but consists of just raster images. However, this provides a poor user experience since images are slow to display and print, and features such as search, bookmarks, and annotations are unlikely to be available.

However, if you encrypt a PDF file and the user does not have the decryption key to use it then it does not matter if they can download it. And if you apply DRM and licensing controls then authorized users those given access will be restricted as to what they can do with downloadable PDF files for example not being able to share them with others. Many cloud based systems claim to stop PDF forwarding — however users can share their login credentials with others so they have access to your documents anyway.

If a system uses document links then there is nothing stopping an authorized user emailing those links to other users along with the login information. Some systems state that they lock PDF files to email addresses or domains but that just means that you have to login using that email address or any email address that belongs to the domain.

It does not stop PDF forwarding since authorized users can still give their login credentials to others. That is also true of 2FA codes which provide little extra protection. A Safeguard protected PDF file can be forwarded and emailed to another user but the recipient will NOT be able to view it unless the document owner has authorized them to use it.

If you are the document publisher, you can email protected PDF files to users knowing that if they fall into the wrong hands they cannot be opened. So if a protected PDF is accidentally forwarded to the wrong person they will not be able to use it. See also stop copying, downloading and emailing. This is because there are numerous free and paid for PDF password remover programs on the Internet that will remove Adobe Acrobat permissions passwords in seconds. Users can still add comments to PDF files if you allow this option , but PDF content is always protected from editing ensuring that your original content cannot be altered in any way.

In some PDF protection products, if editing is disabled you can still highlight and copy text. Safeguard stops users from copying text and other content within a document — there is no copy paste option available and text cannot be highlighted for selection so it cannot be copied and pasted into other applications. Unfortunately there are many free screen grabbing or screen capture applications available that users can download to easily bypass this restriction.

Safeguard stops screenshots being taken by common third party software applications. It uses many different methods including a screen mask that is overlaid over the protected PDF document if the mouse cursor is moved to another active application. No PDF DRM product however can stop all screenshots users can just take photographs of the screen so it is recommended that document publishers apply dynamic watermarks as a copying deterrent.

Safeguard enables document publishers to expire PDF files so they can no longer be used after a certain amount of time. The following options are available:. You might for example want a user to be able to use your documents for a 15 day trial period but those documents will expire on a fixed date regardless if the trial period is used or not.

Perhaps you want to share PDF files online. First, you need to make sure that the files are secure so that no one can access and copy them without permission. You can protect PDF from copying. This article will discuss three methods about how to protect PDF file from copying with PDFelement and one online solution.

One is "Open Password," which allows you to set a password to prevent unauthorized users from opening or accessing your PDF files, and the other is "Permission Password," which prevents individuals from copying or printing your PDF files even after they have opened it.

Follow the steps below to protect your PDF files from unauthorized copying by setting a password. Launch PDFelement on your computer. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods.

Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. You'll see this towards the upper right or left corner of the software window.

A pane will drop down. Another menu drops down. This is usually the first option in the menu. Click Encrypt with Certificate. If you know who you're sending the PDF to already and their email addresses, click "Encrypt with Certificate.

Make sure you add your own name to the list or you'll be unable to open your PDF. You can also set the permissions for each individual who has access to the file if you use the certificate encryption by clicking to select their name from the list, and clicking Permissions.