All tools

Redact

Black out names and numbers for good

Black out names and numbers for good

Choose one PDF. You can also drop files anywhere on this page.

Files are processed on this device and never uploaded.

Black out text for good, on your own device

To redact a PDF without uploading it, open the file here, find a word or number or drag over what should go, and press Redact. Each marked page is rebuilt as a picture with black boxes, so the text under them is removed from the file, not covered. Everything happens in this browser tab.

How to redact a PDF

  1. Choose a PDF

    Pick the file or drop it on the page.

  2. Mark what to remove

    Type a word or number and press Mark all to mark every place it appears, or drag over an area on the page. Look at each mark; Undo takes the last one back.

  3. Redact and download

    Press Redact and download the redacted copy. Your original stays as it was, so keep it somewhere safe or delete it.

Removed from the file, not hidden

  • A page with a mark is drawn as a picture at 200 dpi with the marks painted black, and that picture replaces the page. Its text is gone, so there is nothing under a box to select, copy or uncover.
  • A word you find is also taken out of form fields, comments, links and bookmarks anywhere in the file. A copy that still held the word in its text would not be given to you.
  • Bookmarks, attachments and hidden XMP metadata are always removed, since they can repeat what you marked. “Remove document info too”, on by default, clears the title, author and the rest.
  • Redacted pages are pictures, so their text can no longer be searched or selected, and the file can grow. Pages without a mark keep their text.
  • Find reads text only, and ignores case, accents, spaces and line breaks. It finds nothing on a scanned page or in a stamp, so drag over those. It also matches inside longer words: check each mark.

Questions

Is my PDF uploaded when I redact it?
No. The file is read and redacted by code running in this browser tab. The page is not allowed to send anything to another site, and it keeps working with the network off once it has loaded.
Is the text really removed, or only covered by a black box?
Removed. The marked page is replaced by a picture of itself with the boxes painted in, so the words under them are no longer in the file. Copying, searching or deleting the box brings nothing back.
Can someone remove the black boxes later?
No. The box is not an object lying on top of the text. It is part of the page’s picture, and the text that was there has been taken out.
Why can’t I search a redacted page any more?
Because the whole page became a picture, which is what guarantees nothing is left behind. Pages you did not mark still have their text.
Can I redact a scanned PDF?
Yes, by dragging over what should go. Find works on text, and a scan has none, so it reports “Not found” there.

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