##  [How to Secure Your PDF to Prevent It From Being In Search](/blog/how-secure-your-pdf-prevent-it-being-search) 

 <a id="main-content" tabindex="-1"></a> Friday, August 14, 2026 

Have you been uploading PDFs to your website portal and not wanting them to populate on Google search? Are you worried an old, outdated PDF is showing on the SERP?   
  
Why is it being crawled in the first place?  
Google will crawl text documents and even image PDFs with OCR technology as of 2026. Even if your PDFs are behind a password-protected website, they can still be found on a Content Delivery Network and indexed by search engines.  
  
Here are some steps to follow so that your PDFs remain unindexed by Google.

## Tip 1 - Password-protect and encrypt your PDFs

Generally, by password protecting and encrypting your PDFS, you can prevent crawlers from reading the files. Crawlers won't be able to extract text with encryption, and the password protection is another layer of security that usually a crawler cannot bypass.

## Tip 2 - Toggle on no crawling and use a sitelink removal tool

Some PDF applications and website builders have special settings you can toggle on to prevent most crawlers. You can also follow up with a sitelink removal tool to make sure every site link or hyperlink is removed.

## Tip 3 - Set up a 301 sitelink redirect

This tip is only really good for redirecting an old PDF, to the new or updated PDF. Make sure to clear your cache before testing!

## Tip 4 - The no-index tag

Adding a no-index tag to the HTTP header can prevent Google from crawling the PDF.

Note: If using the no-index tag, make sure you are not combining it with the robots.txt file on the server method.

## Tip 5 - Direct URL issue

If someone has a direct url to the PDF, the PDF does need to be restricted on the server to prevent this from being accessed.

## Tip 6 - Automatic OCR issue

Optical Character Recognition in many programs is turned on automatically. You can turn this off to prevent your PDF from being scanned with OCR technology. You can also take steps to flatten your PDF. You can also turn on settings to prevent your PDF from being scanned or edited.

## Tip 7 - 403 Authorization

Setting up 403 authorization is a great way to let some users have access, but make it forbidden for others.

## Tip 8 - Strict Sharing Modes

Depending on how sensitive the PDF, there are other technologies that can be implemented; like device locking, or other Digital Rights Management features like licenses that will prevent the PDF from opening.

## Tip 9 - Google Search Console Request Removal

If you need your PDF wiped from the internet, you can immediately request a site link removal from Google Search Console in their Removals tool. This will last for 6 months. You want to combine this with setting up a 404 error, and one of the no crawl no index methods, and not just use this method on its own.

Remember! Metadata matters! What you name and save your PDF as will be crawled and indexed accordingly. It's important to keep PDF names relevant, and people can even download them from some platforms with the existing name.