Redact PDF

Permanently remove text and image areas, such as names or account numbers.

Files are processed on this device and never uploaded.

Drag a file here, or choose one from your device.

Guide

About Redact

Redaction is for removing information for good: names in a court filing, account numbers on a statement, a signature on a shared form. Drawing a black box over text in a normal editor only hides it, and the text underneath can still be copied out. This tool deletes the text and image content inside the areas you mark.

You can mark areas by hand or search for text, such as a name, and mark every match at once.

Use it to black out text in a PDF, remove sensitive information, hide names and account numbers, or redact a document for good.

How to use it

  1. Choose the PDF.
  2. Draw boxes over what should go, or use Text to find to mark every occurrence of a word or number.
  3. Choose how Removed areas look: Black boxes or Blank (white).
  4. Press Redact and download. Check the result before you share it.

Good to know

  • Text and images inside the areas are removed from the file, not just covered. We check this with two independent text extractors and the image data.
  • Pages that cannot be edited safely are turned into images, so nothing hidden survives on them; you are told which pages.
  • Bookmarks, attachments and document metadata are not changed. Check the title and author fields with Edit metadata if they contain sensitive details.

Questions and answers

Is the redacted text really gone?

Yes. The text and images inside each area are deleted from the PDF, so they cannot be copied, searched or recovered from the file.

How is this different from drawing a black box?

A drawn box only covers the text, which stays in the file underneath. Redaction removes it.

Can I redact every occurrence of a name at once?

Yes. Search for it with Text to find and every match is marked for removal.

Is it safe to redact confidential documents online?

Here the document never leaves your device: redaction runs in your browser, with no upload.