Is Zamzar safe? Is PDF2Go safe? Two audits, one post

Malware safety and privacy safety are two different questions

When people ask whether a converter is safe, they usually mean one of two things. The first is malware safety: will the site, an ad on it, or the file you download harm your computer? The second is privacy safety: what happens to the document you upload, who can read it, and how long does it sit on someone else's server?

A site can be good at one and weak at the other. A tool with no malware history can still keep your contract for a week. A tool that deletes files quickly can still serve you an ad that tries to trick you into a download. We keep the two apart below.

Malware safety: what did we find?

Neither company's pages we read describe scanning uploaded files for viruses. PDF2Go's security page has no statement about malware or virus scanning, and we found none in the Zamzar pages either. Both sites are long-established, and we found no malware claim against them on their own pages. That is an absence of evidence from the sources we read, not a clean bill of health.

The practical risks are the usual ones for any free converter. PDF2Go's privacy policy says it uses Google AdSense and Google Ad Manager to show ads, so you will see ads on the site. Ad-supported converter pages in general can place a fake download button next to the real one. Only click the download link for your converted file, and keep your browser and antivirus current.

PDF2Go's privacy policy says the download link for a result is generated randomly and cannot be guessed, and its security page says files are sent over TLS. Zamzar's FAQ says all traffic to and from its servers is secured by Transport Layer Security (TLS). Those protect the file on the way. They say nothing about the content of the file you receive back.

Privacy safety: Zamzar, in its own words

Zamzar Limited, a company registered in England (number 06463494), runs the service. Its privacy policy sets the retention window for files: "We will store any files you submit to us for conversion, and their converted outputs on our systems" for "no longer than 7 days following receipt." Afterward they are "permanently removed from our storage systems."

The FAQ gives shorter numbers for the free service. It says "your original file is deleted from our servers as soon as it is converted" and that "your converted or compressed file is securely stored for a maximum of 24 hours." For a failed conversion, "your original file will be securely stored for a maximum of seven days." The two pages differ: 24 hours for a converted free file in the FAQ, up to 7 days for any file in the policy. We cannot say which one governs in practice, so plan for the longer figure, 7 days. The policy also says residual copies "may not be removed from our backup systems for a limited period of time".

Paid accounts work differently. Converted files stay until "35 days after your paid account closes," unless you remove them sooner. The policy says the same 35-day figure for files after an account is deactivated.

On access, the policy says only: "Zamzar employees require access to production services for operational reasons." It does not say that staff cannot open your file. The terms say "Zamzar does not monitor customer content." On location, it says files go to "file server suppliers located in the United States", with Amazon Web Services named as a hosting and content delivery vendor. Both its policy and FAQ state TLS for traffic, and we found no statement on whether files are encrypted at rest.

On ownership, we found no clause giving Zamzar a licence over your uploads. The terms say Zamzar's rights in the Services are exclusive "(except those uploaded by users)". The policy says that for files containing special category data, "You are the controller of this data." The terms also say "we cannot guarantee that User Files or Converted Files will not be deleted or lost", so keep your originals.

Privacy safety: PDF2Go, in its own words

PDF2Go is run by QaamGo Web GmbH of Radolfzell, Germany, named in both its terms and its privacy policy. The policy's retention clauses are specific: "Access is automatically blocked after 24 hours, optionally also immediately." and "At the latest, the files are physically deleted after 72 hours." It adds: "We make no backups of the files you transmit for conversion" and "The generated file can be downloaded a maximum of 10 times."

The security page is vaguer: "Files you convert are deleted automatically according to our privacy policy schedule." It also says you can "delete a file yourself at any time", and the help page says "We do not keep a copy of your file." The security page does not repeat the numbers. The privacy policy is the page with them, so treat 72 hours as the outer limit. The policy also says encrypted backups of its databases are kept for up to 60 days, which is separate from the "no backups" statement about your files.

On location and third parties: "Data is stored in Europe; delivered through a global content delivery network." The recipients are "our server host and our object-storage processor Cloudflare R2 (EU)", and the policy admits "It cannot be ruled out that, by doing so, data might be accessed by servers outside the EU (e.g. USA)." It also lists Google Analytics, Matomo and Stripe for other purposes.

On staff access, the security page says it applies "the principle of least privilege" and that staff receive "only the minimum level of access needed". Its pages say the service processes files automatically, but neither page says a person can never open a file. The security page says "Our servers do the work automatically and use full-disk encryption" and that the files "remain yours". The terms grant PDF2Go "a non-exclusive, time-limited, and geographically unrestricted right to process, store, and convert uploaded files", only as far as the service needs.

Zamzar and PDF2Go side by side

Zamzar's pricing page returned a 404 error when we fetched it on 30 October 2026, so we use only its FAQ for limits. The FAQ says free uploads can be up to 50MB, and 50MB in total if you upload several files together. PDF2Go's help page says a free account raises the daily allowance and a paid plan adds larger files, but it gives no free size limit in the text we read.

When is each one a fine choice?

Zamzar is a fine choice when you need a format conversion, such as an unusual image, video or document type, for a file that is not sensitive. It handles far more formats than a PDF-only tool, and the free service needs no account. If the file is private, remember that the policy allows 7 days of storage in the United States.

PDF2Go is a fine choice for everyday PDF jobs on files you would be content to see leaked: a flyer, a public form, a recipe. Its stated 72-hour maximum is short, it says it keeps no backups, and it holds data in Europe, which matters if GDPR is your concern. It has ads and a global content delivery network, and it does not claim that no person can ever open a file.

Neither page we read makes a promise strong enough for a contract, medical record, tax return or ID scan. For those, use a tool that never receives the file, or ask your compliance officer.

How to check any converter yourself

A policy tells you what a company says. Your browser tells you what the page does. Our guide on how to check if a PDF tool uploads your file walks through the Network tab check with a harmless test PDF. Both Zamzar and PDF2Go upload your file, as their own policies say, so you will see a request about the size of your file. That check cannot tell you what happens to the file afterward.

EasyPDFLoad's tools process the file in your browser tab, so no copy reaches our server, and you can confirm that with the same check. That is a different trade: no upload, but no audit trail, no account features and fewer formats than Zamzar. See our comparison pages for how other tools state their retention, and the private PDF tools overview for the tools that work offline in the tab.

Straight answers (Is Zamzar safe)

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