You locked the quarterly report in November and now it's March and the auditors want it. The password isn't in your password manager, it isn't in your notes, and it isn't where you swore you put it. Before you give up, run through the recovery checklist.
Where to look first
Search your password manager for the document name, the project, the client and any obvious variants. Search your email for the file name — you may have included the password in a follow-up message you forgot about. Check Slack/Teams DMs to the recipient.
If you encrypted via Flint, the password isn't stored anywhere — Flint doesn't keep a copy. The same goes for any browser-based tool worth using.
Think about your password patterns
Most people have a small repertoire of passphrases for one-off uses. Try them. Try common variants: same passphrase with a year suffix, capitalised differently, with an exclamation mark. Try the device password, the client name, the project codename.
For PDFs you locked years ago, your password habits may have been different. Think back to what you used in that era.
If the file came from someone else
If you were sent the encrypted PDF, ask the sender for the password. They almost certainly have a record. Banks, payroll providers and government agencies all have stated password schemes (often based on date of birth or national ID) — check their FAQ.
For bank statements, the password is usually documented in the bank's online help under 'security' or 'statement download'.
Brute force is a last resort
Specialist forensic tools can attempt brute-force or dictionary attacks. For modern AES-256 PDFs with a strong passphrase, brute force is functionally impossible. For older PDFs with weak passwords, it may succeed in hours or days.
Flint doesn't offer brute-force cracking — it's a recovery technique with legitimate uses (your own file) but heavy abuse potential, so we don't ship it. If you genuinely need it, recovery services exist; expect a fee and a turn-around.
FAQ
Can Flint unlock a PDF without the password?
No. The unlock tool requires you to enter the original password. We don't crack files you don't have credentials for.
Will the file be recoverable from a backup?
If you backed up the source document (Word, Pages) before encrypting, regenerate the PDF from there. Encrypted backups won't help — they're encrypted the same way.
How long would it take to brute-force a strong PDF password?
For AES-256 with a 16-character random passphrase, longer than the age of the universe with current hardware. Don't bother.
Should I keep a master spreadsheet of PDF passwords?
Only in a password manager — never in an unencrypted spreadsheet or text file. The point of locking the PDFs is undone otherwise.
Save your future self the headache: store passwords in a manager. If you have the password now, unlock the file and re-encrypt with something you'll remember.