Bank statement PDF password: where to find it and how to remove it

• The email the statement came in: most banks explain the password format at the bottom of the message.
• Your bank's website or app, under FAQs for e-statements.
• Customer care, if the email doesn't say.

Banks change these formats occasionally, so a password that worked for last year's statements may not work for this year's.

• Customer ID or CRN, sometimes on its own.
• Account number, or its last few digits.
• Date of birth, as DDMM, DDMMYY or DDMMYYYY.
• The first few letters of your name, in capitals or lowercase.
• The last few digits of your registered mobile number.

If a format with your name fails, check the exact spelling and case the email asks for, and use the name as it appears in your bank account.

1. 1Open Unlock PDF and choose the statement.
2. 2Enter the password and press Unlock PDF.
3. 3Download the copy that opens without a password.

The statement is unlocked in your browser; it isn't uploaded. The tool needs the correct password: it doesn't crack or guess passwords.

Unlocked statements are easy to combine for a loan or visa application with Merge PDF, or to analyse in Excel with PDF to Excel. Add a password of your own with Protect PDF before emailing them.