# Import failed: the PDF has a password

> A PDF that needs a password to open can't be read, so the import stops with Import failed. Save a copy without the password, or upload the DOCX instead.

Help centre: Getting started · State: a known limit of the product · Updated 2026-09-30 · Source: https://rolebranch.com/help/getting-started/pdf-with-password

## What you saw

You chose a PDF, the import started reading it, and then it stopped with **Import failed**. Your master CV didn't change.

## Why it happens

A PDF protected with a password to open is encrypted: without the password, its pages can't be read, by Rolebranch or by anything else. Import has no way to ask you for the password, so it can't get to the text.

A password that only stops printing or editing is different. Many of those PDFs open normally, but some are encrypted too. If yours asks for nothing when you open it and still fails, send it to us.

## What to do

1. Open the PDF on your computer with its password.
2. Save a copy without it. In most PDF apps, **Print** and then **Save as PDF** makes an unprotected copy. In Preview on a Mac, **Export as PDF** with encryption turned off does the same.
3. Or skip the PDF: upload the Word file (DOCX) you made it from, or import its text as a plain text file (**.txt**).
4. Import the new file and check what it found before you save.

## If that doesn't work

Send us the file type and the message you saw. Import is free, so nothing was charged.