Document Permission Unlocker & Authorized Recovery Gateway

Secure, enterprise-grade document lock analysis, permission restriction removal, and authorized password recovery for PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, and archive files.

What It Does

Upload a locked or restricted document. The Actor analyzes the protection type and takes the appropriate action:

Protection Type	Action	Pricing Event
Analysis only	Lock state report, encryption details, feasibility assessment	document-analysis-and-job-setup · $0.29
Edit / print / copy restrictions (no open password)	Removes restrictions instantly, delivers clean, unprotected file	permission-unlocked · $2.99
Open password (PDF, Office, or archive file)	10-minute fast dictionary recovery attempt (charged per attempt whether or not the password is found)	quick-recovery-micro-block · $1.99
Open password (complex / unknown)	30-minute compute block running exhaustive multi-phase recovery, fully resumable (charged per attempt whether or not the password is found)	recovery-compute-block · $4.99

Analysis and permission unlock deliver deterministic results. For password recovery tiers, charges cover dedicated hardware compute time; recovery cannot be unconditionally guaranteed.

Supported File Types

Format	Permission Unlock	Recovery
PDF (all standard encryption revisions)	✅	✅
DOCX / XLSX / PPTX (modern Office, OOXML)	✅	✅
DOC / XLS (legacy binary Office, OLE2)	❌	✅
ZIP, RAR, 7z (encrypted archives)	❌	✅

Unsupported or unrecognized files: If an unsupported format or custom encryption variant is detected, you are charged $0.00. An automated alert is routed to our engineering team and support for that variant will be added in a future release.

Common Use Cases

• Forgotten personal password — You password-protected a tax return or family document years ago and no longer remember the password.
• Former employee handover — A colleague left the company and their password-protected spreadsheets are blocking a quarterly close.
• Archived corporate documents — Legacy files from a previous CRM, ERP migration, or M&A archive locked with unknown credentials.
• IT incident recovery — A departing administrator locked shared templates or policy documents; IT needs to restore access for the team.
• Permission-locked PDFs — Contract PDFs or government forms with edit/print restrictions that prevent legitimate annotation, form-filling, or archiving workflows.

How to Use

Mode 1: Submit a Document

{
  "mode": "submit",
  "fileUrl": "https://example.com/locked-report.pdf",
  "ownershipType": "corporate",
  "recoveryReason": "former_colleague",
  "authorizationEvidence": "Q3 financial summary created by former CFO Jane Doe. I am the current CFO requesting access for the annual audit. Internal ticket reference: IT-2024-4481.",
  "contactEmailOrNotes": "jane.smith@company.com / IT-2024-4481",
  "acceptDisclaimer": true,
  "allowPrivateRecovery": true,
  "recoveryTier": "standard"
}

Tip: Including a verifiable reference — such as a corporate email address, an internal ticket number, or an enterprise document system reference — in authorizationEvidence or contactEmailOrNotes strengthens your request. Requests that cannot be verified are subject to rejection during compliance review.

Output: Lock analysis report + job ID (if password recovery is required). If permission restrictions were removed, a direct public download link to the cleaned document is delivered.

Mode 2: Check Recovery Status

{
  "mode": "check",
  "jobId": "rec_abc123xyz"
}

Output: Current job status. Once completed, the recovered password is delivered directly to your Apify dataset.

Mode 3: Extend a Running Job

{
  "mode": "extend",
  "jobId": "rec_abc123xyz",
  "recoveryBlocks": 2
}

Output: Allocates additional 30-minute compute blocks and resumes seamlessly from the exact checkpoint — no repeated work.

Transparent Pay-Per-Event Pricing

Each run charges at most one event corresponding to the action performed. No hidden fees, no double billing.

Event	Price	What You Get
document-analysis-and-job-setup	$0.29	Full lock state analysis, container format inspection, and recovery feasibility report.
permission-unlocked	$2.99	Restriction-free document delivered with direct download link (analysis included).
quick-recovery-micro-block	$1.99	10 minutes of dedicated hardware-accelerated dictionary recovery (analysis included). Charged per attempt whether or not the password is found.
recovery-compute-block	$4.99	30 minutes of dedicated multi-phase deep recovery per block (resumable, analysis included). Charged per attempt whether or not the password is found.

Unsupported file types and unrecognized encryption variants: $0.00 (No charge applied).

Security & Privacy

• Local-only file processing — Your original document is analyzed and handled entirely within the Actor's isolated runtime container. Document contents are never transmitted to recovery infrastructure.
• Security fingerprint only — Only a minimal, locally-derived representation of the document's lock parameters is submitted to the secure recovery cluster. Your file bytes never leave the Actor container.
• Ephemeral document storage — Cleaned documents and temporary processing files are held in short-lived storage and automatically purged immediately after the job finishes.
• Results in your private Apify dataset — Recovered credentials are written directly to your private Apify dataset and governed by Apify's security and data retention policies. The recovery cluster permanently redacts its own temporary records upon confirmed delivery.
• Audit trail retention — Request metadata (ownership type, business reason, authorization statement, and account reference) is logged for legal compliance and abuse prevention.
• Mandatory ownership verification — Every recovery request requires an authorization statement, ownership type, and business reason. Requests that fail compliance review are rejected without charge.
• Bounded compute — All recovery runs operate within pre-paid time blocks. There are no open-ended or unbounded background processes.

FAQ

Q: Is password recovery guaranteed?
No. You purchase dedicated hardware compute time. Passwords that appear in common lists or follow predictable patterns have high recovery rates. Long, random, or highly unique passwords may not be recoverable within reasonable compute windows.

Q: How long does recovery take?
Permission unlocks are typically instant (under 30 seconds). The standard tier allocates a 10-minute compute window targeting high-frequency dictionary candidates. The extended tier runs in 30-minute compute blocks; each block continues a systematic, multi-phase recovery from exactly where the previous block finished.

Q: How many extended blocks will I need?
It depends entirely on the password's characteristics, which cannot be known in advance. Passwords that follow common conventions are typically found within the initial blocks. After each block, you receive a status update and decide whether to purchase another block or stop. You are never automatically charged beyond what you explicitly purchase. Most users who see a recovery result achieve it within 1–3 blocks.

Q: Is there a maximum cost?
You control your spend completely. Each extended block is a separate purchase ($4.99). You choose how many blocks to allocate upfront, inspect results at each step, and decide whether to continue. There are no recurring subscriptions and no surprise charges.

Q: Can I track which specific phase the recovery is executing?
The recovery status (mode: check) indicates whether the job is running, completed successfully, paused on budget exhaustion (resumable), or fully exhausted. Internal attack algorithms are orchestrated automatically by our cluster and remain backend implementation details.

Q: Can I buy more time if the first block did not find the password?
Yes. Use mode: extend with your jobId. Recovery resumes from the exact state and checkpoint where it paused — previously searched keyspaces are never repeated.

Q: What file types are supported?
PDF (all standard encryption revisions), modern Office (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX), legacy binary Office (DOC, XLS), and encrypted archives (ZIP, RAR, 7z). Please refer to the Supported File Types table above.

Q: My file type or encryption variant is not supported yet — will it be?
If your document utilizes an unrecognized encryption scheme, you are charged $0.00 and an automated alert is sent to our engineering team. Support for new formats is added in rolling updates.

Q: What happens to my file after processing?
It is automatically erased from the Actor's container storage. Cleaned files from permission unlocks remain accessible through your Apify account's key-value store according to your retention settings.

Q: Where is the recovered password stored?
It is written strictly to your private Apify dataset, accessible only by your authenticated Apify account. The compute cluster permanently clears its own temporary cache upon delivery.

Q: Why do I need to provide an authorization statement?
All high-assurance recovery requests undergo verification. The authorization statement, combined with your ownership type and recovery reason, establishes a tamper-evident audit record. Requests with insufficient justification are rejected to prevent unauthorized use.