---
title: "Protecting the generated PDF"
description: "Learn how to protect generated PDFs with passwords using Java and the HttpClient library. This guide offers detailed steps with code samples in Java and the HttpClient library, showing how to secure your PDF documents."
language: 'Java'
library: 'HttpClient'
property: 'protection'
output: 'pdf'
related: ['adding-an-image-watermark', 'adding-a-text-watermark']
default: false
---

In this guide, we'll show you how to protect generated PDFs with passwords using Java and the HttpClient library.

When generating PDFs, you might want to add password protection to restrict access.

```java
import java.net.http.*;
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest.BodyPublishers;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse.BodyHandlers;
import java.time.Duration;

// You can get an API key at https://pdfshift.io
String apiKey = "sk_xxxxxxxxxxxx";

HttpClient client = HttpClient.newBuilder()
    .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
    .build();

HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
    .uri(URI.create("https://api.pdfshift.io/v3/convert/pdf"))
    .header("X-API-Key", apiKey)
    .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
    .POST(BodyPublishers.ofString("{\n" +
        "  \"source\": \"https://www.example.com\",\n" +
        "  \"protection\": {\n" +
        "    \"user_password\": \"user123\",\n" +
        "    \"owner_password\": \"owner123\"\n" +
        "  }\n" +
        "}"))
    .build();

HttpResponse<byte[]> response = client.send(request, BodyHandlers.ofByteArray());

// Handle errors:
if (response.statusCode() >= 400) {
    throw new RuntimeException("Request failed with status code " + response.statusCode());
}

java.nio.file.Files.write(java.nio.file.Paths.get("result.pdf"), response.body());

System.out.println("The PDF document was generated and saved to result.pdf");
```

This allows you to secure your PDF documents with passwords.