Redact PDF
Permanently black out sensitive content.
How to use Redact PDF
- 01
Upload the PDF
Add the document containing sensitive information — names, numbers, addresses, or images you need to permanently remove.
- 02
Mark areas to redact
Draw boxes over the text or image regions you want to black out. Preview the redaction before applying.
- 03
Apply and download
Apply the redactions — the underlying content is permanently removed, not just covered — and download the redacted PDF.
Tested and last verified on
About Redact PDF
Permanently remove sensitive text and images: draw boxes over regions and the underlying content is flattened away for good.
Permanent removal, not just a black box on top
The most common mistake people make when trying to hide sensitive information in a PDF is drawing a black rectangle over the text. This looks redacted on screen and in print, but the text is still there — anyone with a free PDF editor can move or delete the rectangle and read what was underneath. Real redaction removes the content: the text characters, the image pixels, and any metadata associated with the covered region are stripped from the file entirely. What is left is genuinely, irrecoverably gone.
This tool performs true redaction. You draw boxes over the regions you want to remove, and when you apply the redaction, the tool flattens the page content — replacing the selected regions with opaque fills and deleting the underlying data streams. The result is a PDF where the redacted areas contain no recoverable information.
How redaction works internally
When you mark an area for redaction, the tool identifies every text character and image pixel that falls within or overlaps the marked region. On applying, it removes those characters from the text stream and clips or erases the image data that falls within the box. The page is then re-rendered with an opaque fill where the content used to be. The result is not a layered page with a black box on top of hidden text — it is a page where the hidden text no longer exists.
This is why redaction is a one-way operation. Once applied, the original content cannot be recovered from the redacted PDF, even with specialised forensic tools. If you need to keep an unredacted copy for your own records, save the original separately before applying redactions.
Who needs redaction and practical advice
Law firms redact privileged information, personal data, and case-irrelevant details from discovery documents before producing them. Government agencies redact classified sections from documents released under freedom-of-information requests. Healthcare providers redact patient identifiers before sharing records for research. Businesses redact financial details, proprietary terms, and employee personal data from contracts before sharing them externally.
Always verify redactions before sharing the document: zoom in to the redacted areas and try selecting the text to confirm that nothing remains. Save an unredacted backup before applying if you will ever need the original content. And because redaction involves sensitive material by definition, the fact that this tool runs entirely in your browser — with no server upload — is not a convenience, it is a requirement. The sensitive data stays on your device from start to finish.
Questions
Everything runs in your browser. How we keep files private
Is the content actually removed or just hidden?
Actually removed. The tool flattens the redacted regions — the underlying text and image data is stripped from the file, not merely covered with a black box. No one can recover the original content from the redacted PDF, even with a PDF editor.
What is the difference between redaction and cropping?
Cropping changes the visible area but leaves the hidden content in the file — someone with a PDF editor can widen the crop and see it again. Redaction permanently deletes the underlying data. For removing sensitive information, always use redaction, not cropping.
Can I redact specific text by searching for it?
The current tool uses manual selection: you draw boxes over the areas to redact. This gives you full control over exactly what is removed, which is important when the sensitive information might not follow a predictable pattern.
Is the redaction done locally?
Yes. The entire process runs in your browser. Your document — and the sensitive information in it — is never uploaded to any server.
Part of: Sharing ID documents without leaking them
Mask, redact and strip your Aadhaar, PAN and other IDs before you send them.
- Find and black out Aadhaar and PAN numbers automaticallyChecksum-verified detection, every match shown for review, then true removal — or UIDAI-style masking that leaves the last four digits.
- Strip hidden metadata before you share a fileDocuments carry author names, software details and edit history you never intended to send.
- Lock a finished document with a passwordReal 256-bit encryption for a file you are about to email, applied before it leaves your device.