PDF Encrypt by cloudHQ puts a password on your PDF files. Select PDFs from Google Drive, select a Google Drive folder, or upload files from your computer, type a password, and cloudHQ gives you back encrypted copies.

Anyone who wants to open an encrypted copy must type the password first. Your original files are not changed, and each encrypted copy is saved to your Google Drive and downloaded to your computer at the same time.

Three common reasons:

• Mistakes happen. The most common cause of a leaked document is human error: the wrong recipient, a reply to all, a forwarded thread, or a lost laptop. An encrypted PDF cannot be read without the password, so a misdirected email becomes a non-event instead of a disclosure.
• Rules often require it. HIPAA, FERPA, GLBA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, and many state breach-notification laws either require or strongly favor encrypting personal data in transit. Several of them treat encrypted data differently, so encryption can be the difference between a private incident and a public disclosure.
• It builds trust. Sending a password-protected document tells clients and partners that you take their information seriously. The effort is small and the signal is large.

To learn more, visit the PDF Encrypt website.

Install PDF Encrypt by cloudHQ from Google Workspace Marketplace, or open the PDF Encrypt dashboard directly in your browser.

For full instructions, read Getting started with PDF Encrypt.

PDF Encrypt applies standard PDF password protection with a user password, also called an open password. The PDF reader asks for this password before it shows the document.

Printing is allowed by default, so the person you send the file to can still print it after entering the password. This matches what people expect from password-protected PDFs in business and legal work.

Yes. The result is a standard password-protected PDF. It opens in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader, Apple Preview, Chrome, Firefox, the Google Drive viewer, the Files app on iPhone and Android, and other PDF readers. The reader asks for the password the first time the file is opened. The recipient does not need a cloudHQ account or any cloudHQ software.

Nothing. The original is left exactly as it was, and it stays unencrypted. The encrypted version is always a separate file.

In two places at the same time:

• In your Google Drive. You choose where. By default the encrypted copy is saved next to the source file with an _encrypted.pdf ending, so contract.pdf becomes contract_encrypted.pdf. The other option saves the copy in a folder called encrypted inside the source folder. That folder is created for you the first time and reused after that.
• On your computer. The results page has a download button for each encrypted file, so you can attach it to an email or a message right away.

Files uploaded from your computer have no source folder in Drive, so their encrypted copies are saved in the root of My Drive.

Open the PDF Encrypt settings page, or click the Modify advanced options link on the encryption page. Choose between the _encrypted.pdf ending and the encrypted subfolder, then save the change. Your choice is remembered and used for every later run until you change it again.

Yes. Select as many PDFs as you need and they are all encrypted in one job. cloudHQ encrypts up to ten files at the same time, so a batch of fifty contracts takes roughly the time of five encrypted one after another. The results page shows each file as it finishes.

Yes. In Google Drive select folder as click on New -> More -> PDF Encrypt:

Folder selection covers the files directly inside the folder you picked. It does not go into subfolders. If the folder also holds files that are not PDFs, those files are reported as failed and the PDFs are still encrypted normally.

A file uploaded from your computer can be up to 25 MB. Files that already live in your Google Drive can be much larger, including scanned archives that are gigabytes in size, because they never pass through your browser.

Yes. Tick Save this password for future use and the password is filled in the next time you open the encryption page. You can also set a default password on the PDF Encrypt settings page.

If you leave the box unticked, the password is used only for that job and is not kept in your account. To forget a password you saved earlier, untick the box and run an encryption once, or clear the password field on the settings page and save the change.

Only you. A saved password belongs to your own cloudHQ account preferences. It is not a shared team setting, and other people in your organization do not see it. You can clear it at any time.

There is no way to recover it, and cloudHQ cannot open the file for you. This is the point of real encryption.

The good news is that your original file was never changed. Find the original PDF in your Google Drive and encrypt it again with a password you know. If you saved your password in PDF Encrypt, you can also check it on the settings page by using the show password button next to the field.

Send it separately from the file. If you email the encrypted PDF, share the password by text message, by phone, or through a chat app. A password written in the same email as the attachment gives you very little protection, because anyone who receives that email by mistake gets both.

Use something long and hard to guess, for example a few unrelated words together with numbers. Avoid the client name, the file name, dates, or a password you use for other accounts. If you send documents to the same client often, a shared password for that client is easier to manage than a new one for every file, but change it if a staff member leaves or if you think it was exposed.

No. cloudHQ has to be able to read the document in order to protect it, and a file that is already locked cannot be read without its password. Open the protected file with its password, save an unprotected copy, and encrypt that copy.

No. PDF Encrypt works on PDF files. If you select another file type you get the message that only valid PDF documents can be encrypted, along with the type that was detected. Convert the file to PDF first, then encrypt the PDF.

If you want to convert files to PDF and password protect them while writing an email, look at Attach Files as PDF by cloudHQ.

The most common reasons are:

1. The file is not a PDF.
2. The PDF is already password protected.
3. The file is damaged, empty, or cannot be read.
4. You no longer have access to a file you selected in Google Drive.

Files that succeed are still delivered, and the results page shows the reason for each file that failed. If a Google Drive permission problem is reported, re-select the files or re-authorize your Google Drive when the page offers those options. If the problem continues, contact support@cloudhq.net and include the error shown on the results page.

No. The job runs on the cloudHQ servers, so you can close the page. The results page shows the progress while it is open, and each encrypted file appears in your Google Drive as soon as it is done.

Google Drive authorization lets the app read the PDF files or folders you select and save the encrypted copies back to your Drive. cloudHQ uses Google’s OAuth authorization flow, so the app never receives or stores your Google password. You can review or remove cloudHQ’s access from your Google Account permissions at any time.

Yes. PDF Encrypt is published as a Google Workspace add-on, so an administrator can deploy it across the domain from the Google admin console, control who is allowed to install it, and manage it like any other approved app. There is nothing to install on each computer.

Yes. A free cloudHQ account can encrypt up to 20 documents, and no credit card is required. The allowance counts files, not PDF pages, and the counter is cumulative, so it does not reset each month. A paid plan removes the limit.

Use this direct link to buy or upgrade the paid plan: Upgrade PDF Encrypt by cloudHQ.

Your files and passwords are used only as needed to provide the features you request. Data is protected in transit and at rest, and document content is not used for advertising. Your encrypted files intentionally stay in your Google Drive.

For complete details, read how cloudHQ handles the privacy of your data, the full cloudHQ Privacy Policy, and the current cloudHQ sub-processor list.

Visit the PDF Encrypt website, open the PDF Encrypt dashboard, or read the other guides in the cloudHQ support center for PDF Encrypt. For additional help, email support@cloudhq.net.