Your bank e-mails you a statement, and the PDF won't open without a password you don't remember setting. That's normal: banks and card issuers lock statement PDFs with a password built from your own details, so only you can open them. The catch is that every bank uses a slightly different recipe.
Here's the important thing up front: the exact format is always written in the email or SMS that delivered the statement. That covering message is the source of truth. The patterns below are what issuers commonly use, to help you recognise yours — but they change by bank, product and over time, so check your statement email before assuming.
Common password formats
- Date of birth — often in
DDMMYYYYform (e.g. 05081990). One of the most common. - PAN — your 10-character PAN, sometimes in lower or upper case.
- Customer ID / CRN — the customer number your bank assigned you.
- Account number — the full number, or sometimes the last few digits.
- Name + number combinations — the first few letters of your name (often capitalised) joined with your date of birth or account number.
Credit-card statements frequently use your date of birth or the last 4 digits of the card, sometimes combined with your name. Payslips and Form 16 usually use your employee ID, PAN or date of birth — if you're unsure, your HR or payroll team can confirm it.
Where to find the exact format
- Open the email that delivered the statement. The password rule is almost always spelled out there, usually right next to the attachment.
- If it's an SMS-delivered link, the accompanying message often states it.
- Still stuck? Your bank's net-banking help section or customer care can tell you the format (they won't tell you the password itself — it's derived from your details).
No website can know your password — it's made from your personal data, which a tool has no access to. Anything claiming to "reveal" it is a red flag.
Removing the password so you don't type it every time
Once you know the password, you don't have to keep entering it. You can remove it once and keep an open copy for your records, a loan file or a visa application.
Our PDF Password Remover does this in your browser — the statement and the password never leave your device, which is exactly what you want for a file full of account details. Enter the password once, and download an unlocked copy with the text still selectable (useful when you need to copy a transaction or balance into a form).
There are direct pages for the common ones too:
One thing to remember
This removes a password you know. If you've genuinely forgotten it, no tool can recover it from a properly encrypted PDF — you'll need the statement re-issued from your net banking or by asking the bank. That's not a limitation of one tool; it's how encryption is supposed to work, and it's the same thing that keeps your statement private in the first place.
Know your password? Remove it and download an open copy here — nothing is uploaded.