Printing password protected PDFs

Hi

i recently bought travel insurance and it came in pdf form with a password which works fine for opening but after hitting AirPrint on IOS 18.4 it asks for the password again but this time round claims the password is incorrect.

I’ve sent the file to my friends Google pixel on android 15 and after unlocking and asking during print it works first time Everytime.

it seems that with each major Update, AirPrint capability is broken. Waited about a year since IOS 17.4x and over I’d get the lost connection to printer issue. On iOS 18 it would print but the print screen wouldn’t show. On IOS 18.2 this was resolved but would blow up images unlike before and look cropped up. Seems like after IOS 16 I’ve just been having an absolute nightmare with bugs that get fixed and 10 more appear.

I have resorted to using the app from the printer HP Smart that asks password for opening and once again before printing but it works but takes forever where as the “just worked ethos” has never appeared after IOS 17.X and AirPrint.

anybody know why this is happening? Why can I view the doc after entering password but says password is incorrect after opening air print via the print option. Does it even if I saved the file to iCloud Drive. Same issue when it comes to printing. Incorrect password after successfully opening doc but not after selecting air print.

im on IOS 18.3.1 and had big hopes this would be fixed in IOS 18.4 but nope.