Opens directly
Password-protected PDF
- Password protection
- Protected PDF
The PDF stays a PDF. The recipient opens it with their PDF application and types the password.
The recipient normally does not need Loclavis for this.
Password protect a PDFLocal-first · Privacy
Protect files locally.
Choose a file, set a password, download the protected file. Your files never leave your device.
Free 10 free protect operations per month
Encryption not available in this browser This browser lacks a feature Loclavis needs to encrypt locally. Please use a current version of Firefox, Chrome, Edge or Safari.
Protect a file
Drag a file here
or to choose a file
Selected files
No files selected yet.
More password options
The password is created directly in your browser. It is not sent to Loclavis and not stored. Loclavis cannot recover it later.
You can also type your own password. The generator is an offer, not a requirement.
Additional password options are part of Plus. See Plus
Ready
File protected successfully
Your protected file is ready.
- Original size
- Protected size
Keep the password safe
Without this password the protected file cannot be opened again. Loclavis does not know it and cannot recover it.
How the recipient opens the file
- https://loclavis.com/en/decrypt-file
- Select the protected file there.
- Enter the password you send separately.
Nothing needs to be installed. Decryption again runs locally in the recipient's browser.
The protected file stays in place after decryption. The decrypted original is created as a separate file.
Send the file and the password separately
Send the protected file by email or through a file service, for example. Pass the password along another route, such as a phone call, a text message or a messenger. If both travel in the same channel, the protection does not help much.
100% local file processing Your files are not uploaded.
Decrypt a file
Drag a file here
or to choose a file
Selected files
No files selected yet.
Ready
Original file restored successfully
- Original size
- Protected size
100% local file processing Your files are not uploaded.
Why Loclavis
A surface that makes privacy effortless instead of complicated.
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Local-first
Files stay on your device. No uploads, no server caching, no account required.
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Instant
No installation, no waiting. Open it, choose a file, set a password, done.
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Private by design
Passwords are never transmitted, never logged, never persisted. Processing happens in your browser.
How Loclavis works
Three steps. No account, no installation, no prior knowledge.
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Choose a file
Drag a file into the area above, or pick one through the file dialog.
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Set a password
Type your own password, or have a secure one generated for you.
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Download the protected file
Loclavis encrypts directly in your browser. Then you download the result.
Your files stay on your device
Encryption runs entirely in your browser. The file you protect is not uploaded to do it. Your password and the keys derived from it never leave your device either.
What does happen online: delivering the website itself, and payment through Stripe if you buy Plus. Both are separate from encrypting.
Which files can I protect?
Loclavis works at the byte level, so it does not depend on particular formats. Typical examples:
- PDF documents, invoices and contracts
- Word, Excel, PowerPoint and LibreOffice files
- Photos and scans such as JPG, PNG, HEIC and TIFF
- Archives such as ZIP, 7z and tar
- XML, CSV, JSON and text files
- Video and audio files
- And anything else that sits on your device as a file
Very large files depend on the limits of your browser and your memory. Loclavis processes them in sections so the whole file is never in memory at once.
Who is Loclavis for?
For anyone who occasionally has to send or store a confidential file and does not want to install software for it.
- Freelancers sending quotes and invoices
- Small businesses without their own IT department
- Bookkeeping and tax paperwork
- Personnel records, contracts and job applications
- Private documents such as ID scans or medical letters
- Anyone handing a file over by email or cloud storage
Loclavis is a tool, not legal advice. Whether a particular measure is sufficient in your case depends on your situation.
Two ways to protect a file
Which one Loclavis uses depends on the file. There is nothing for you to set.
For many file types
Protected Loclavis file
- Spreadsheet, image, ZIP, folder
- Loclavis
- Protected file
For other file types Loclavis protects the original inside an encrypted file. To open it, the file is decrypted locally with Loclavis again.
File format: .safe
Encrypt a fileWhat is a protected Loclavis file?
A protected Loclavis file is like a sealed envelope around your original file.
- One file, several files or a whole folder can go into that envelope.
- Without the right password the contents cannot be read normally.
- To open it, you choose the file in Loclavis again and enter the password.
- The original file then appears again on your device.
- Nothing needs to be installed. Decryption runs locally in your browser.
.safe is the Loclavis file format for locally protected files.
Why are there two of them?
PDF has a suitable password protection of its own that common PDF applications understand. Many other formats have no consistent secure password mechanism. For those files Loclavis uses its own format, .safe.
The PDF/A and ZUGFeRD case
For PDF files that have to stay unchanged for format reasons, Loclavis does not alter the file. The original stays exactly as it is and is wrapped in a protected Loclavis file.
What actually happens
Four sequences, shown briefly. The descriptions below say the same thing in words, so nothing exists only in the picture.
Encrypting without an upload
What each file becomes
Opening it again
The PDF special case
And what happens online
Separate from encrypting there are functions that do need a connection: delivering the website itself, buying Plus through Stripe, checking a Plus key and a later donation link. None of them touches your files, your passwords or your keys.