Redact PDF

Hide ID numbers, account details and addresses before a document leaves your hands.

Private: your files never leave this deviceNothing is uploaded or stored on a serverWorks right here in your browser

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How to redact a PDF

  1. Open the PDF

    Choose the file or drop it on the box. The first page appears with thumbnails for the rest.

  2. Mark what must go

    Type words to find or tap a preset such as Email addresses, then Find. Draw boxes with Draw box for anything else, and untick matches you want to keep.

  3. Redact and save

    Pick black or white boxes and a resolution, press Redact and save, and download the new file.

Good to know

  • Card numbers are only marked when they pass the Luhn check, which skips most random 16-digit strings.
  • Whole word stops a search for Raja from also marking Rajan.
  • A label such as REDACTED on each box shows readers that something was removed on purpose.
  • Check the result by searching it in your PDF reader: marked words should not be found.

Questions people ask

Is the redacted text really removed?

Yes. Every page with a mark is redrawn as an image with the boxes burnt in, and the original page, its text, fonts and hidden layers are dropped from the file. Nothing is merely covered. Pages without marks are copied unchanged.

Why can I no longer select text on some pages?

Those are the pages you redacted: they are now pictures of the page. That is the price of certain removal. Pages you did not mark keep their selectable text. A higher resolution keeps small print sharper at the cost of a bigger file.

What else is removed?

The document properties (title, author, keywords), XMP metadata, tags, attachments, and any form fields or comments on the redacted pages. Tick Flatten form fields to fix every form field into the page first.

Why did the search miss something?

Search reads the PDF's text layer. Scanned pages have none, so draw boxes over them by hand; the page count without text is shown after a search. Always look through the pages before saving.

Are my PDF files uploaded?

No. Every step runs inside your browser with the pdf-lib and pdf.js libraries. Files never leave your device, there is no size or count limit beyond your computer's memory, and nothing is stored when you close the tab.

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