view. A file that is merely *restricted* — a PDF that opens without a password but blocks printing or copying, or a Word file marked read-only — is not affected and processes normally.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Retrying will not help.** **Retry All** and **Retry Selected** in the Exceptions view re-run the file from the beginning, exactly as it was uploaded — the protection is still there and no password is supplied on retry, so it stops again at the same point. (**Skip PDF Conversion** does not appear for these files; it only applies to files that failed during PDF conversion, not at the password check.) Replacing the file with an unprotected copy is the only fix.
{% endhint %}
See [Document processing and errors](/reference/document-processing-and-errors.md).
## If you leave the file protected
The file stays in the matter but is never converted. If you build a court bundle that includes it, BriefTech warns you first — listing it under **Password-protected**, with a note that a placeholder page will appear in its place — and, if you continue, inserts a single placeholder page, labelled with the file name and reading *"This document is password-protected and could not be included."*
The unprotected copy you upload in its place processes like any other upload.
## Related
| The document lifecycle: from upload to ready | What happens to a file between upload and the moment it can be used. | The document lifecycle: from upload to ready |
| Reprocess a failed document | Re-run a document through the processing pipeline after it failed. | Reprocess a failed document |
| Background Jobs | Status indicators, columns, and row actions in the Background Jobs dialog. | Background Jobs |
| Extract files from a ZIP or email attachment | Unpack the contents of a ZIP archive or email's attachments into separate documents in your matter. | Extract files from a ZIP or email attachment |
| Document processing and errors | Processing stages, what OCR reads, and the document error reasons. | Document processing and errors |