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Redact PDF, without the upload.

Black out text and areas of a PDF, and remove what is under them from the file for good. Contracts, payslips and ID scans stay on your device.

  • Free, no sign-up
  • Search or draw boxes
  • Checked after saving

Drop a PDF to redact

or choose from your computer paste with Ctrl V

Ready · PDF files · several at once0 bytes uploaded, ever

How to redact a PDF

  1. Add your PDF

    Drop it above or choose it.

  2. Mark what to remove

    Draw boxes on the pages, or type words and pick kinds of text, such as email addresses, and mark every match.

  3. Download the redacted copy

    Press Redact. Nothing is removed until you do. The result is read again before you can save it.

What stays and what doesn't

Redacting rebuilds the pages you marked. These are the things that do not come along to the new file:

  • bookmarks
  • links to pages that are not in the result
  • form fields (they stay on the page but can no longer be filled in)
  • reading-order tags used by screen readers
  • attached files
  • scripts
  • extra properties

A digital signature is removed, only after you say so: any change to a signed file breaks the signature, so the file is held back until you choose to continue.

Print, copy and edit restrictions are removed, only after you say so: the file is held back until you choose to continue.

When it won't run

Five things stop a run before it writes anything, and each is said on the file's row. A PDF that needs a password asks for it there, and a wrong password is refused with a sentence that says so. A digitally signed PDF is held back until you choose to continue, because redacting it would break the signature. A file that cannot be read is reported as damaged. A job too large for this device says so, and in every case nothing is changed and your original stays as it was.

  • The PDF opens, but its owner has switched off printing, copying or editing. Redacting it would remove those restrictions.Remove the restrictions and continue
  • A whole number of pixels from 1 to 16383.
  • Type the pages you want, like 1-3, 5.
  • We checked the result and something you marked is still in it, so no file was made. Nothing was changed.

Redacting a PDF: what to expect

Each page that has a box is drawn on your device with the boxes in the pixels, and the page is rebuilt from that picture. The text, the pictures and the lines under a box are not in the new file at all. Pages without a box are not touched and keep their text. A rebuilt page can no longer be selected from, unless you ask for it to be read again, which reads what is outside the boxes.

Words can hide in other places too, so the hidden places are cleared by default: the properties of the file and the copy of them kept for other programs, attached files, scripts, and the structure that describes the page. Comments, form values and bookmarks are removed where they hold a word you searched for. Turn this off if you want them kept.

After the file is made, it is read again by a different reader. It looks at every page, at the places above, and at the raw bytes of the file for each word you searched for. If one is found, no file is offered. A clean check is a strong sign, not a promise about every possible hiding place. Look at the result before you send it.

Questions

Are my PDFs uploaded?

No. Your PDFs are processed inside your browser, on your own phone or computer, and saved straight from this page. The reading at the top of the page counts every byte sent, and it stays at 0 B.

Is a black box enough?

No. A box drawn over text leaves the text in the file, and anyone can copy it out. This tool rebuilds the page as a picture with the box in the pixels, so the text under it is gone.

Can I still select text afterwards?

Not on pages you marked, because they are pictures now. You can ask for those pages to be read again, which makes the text outside the boxes searchable. The pages you did not mark keep their text.

What does the check after saving look at?

The result is opened again and each word you searched for is looked for in the text of every page, in the properties, bookmarks, comments and attached files, and in the raw bytes of the file. If it is found, no file is offered. Areas you drew have no word to look for, so for those the check confirms that the rebuilt page holds no text.

Are the words I search for sent anywhere?

No. They stay in this page and are used only to find the matches and to check the result.

What does it miss?

Words that are only in a picture are not found by a search, so draw a box over them. The kinds of text, such as card numbers, find things that have that shape, not everything that means it. Always look at the result.

I only want to add marks. Is that this tool?

No. Edit PDF adds marks to a page, and a white-out there leaves the text in the file. This tool is for removing.

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