How to redact a PDF
- Drop the document. Pages are rendered so you can see what you're covering.
- Drag across what must go. As many areas as you like, across as many pages. Escape undoes the last one.
- Redact and save. Marked pages are rebuilt from pixels with the areas painted out.
The mistake this tool exists to prevent
Drawing a black rectangle in a PDF editor does not remove anything. It puts a shape on top of text that is still sitting in the file, and selecting the blacked-out area and copying it hands the text straight back. Redacted legal filings, government reports and corporate disclosures have all been undone this way, by journalists who pressed Ctrl+A.
A lot of free tools ship exactly that as their redaction feature, and some charge for it.
What happens here instead
The marked pages are re-rendered as images at twice their natural resolution, the areas you drew are painted out on that image, and the page is rebuilt from the result. The original page object, along with every character that was on it, is discarded. There is nothing left underneath, because the original page object is gone.
The cost is real: a rebuilt page is a picture, so its text is no longer selectable or searchable. That is why only pages you actually mark get this treatment. Everything else is copied over untouched and keeps working normally.
The metadata needs removing too
Redaction handles what's visible on the page. A document can also carry your name, your software and a revision history in its metadata, none of which appears in the text. Strip that separately with Anonymize PDF before sharing anything sensitive.
Common uses for redacting PDFs
- Black out personal data: remove names, addresses and account numbers before a document is shared.
- Prepare a document for release: take out the parts that cannot be published, permanently.
- Redact a legal exhibit: cover privileged passages so they cannot be recovered from the file.
- Share a redacted contract: hide the commercial terms while showing the rest.
Frequently asked questions
How do I redact a PDF properly?
Drag a box over anything that has to go, on any page, then click Redact and save. The marked pages are re-rendered with the covered areas painted out, and the rebuilt page replaces the original, so the hidden content is no longer in the file.
Why can't I just draw a black rectangle over it?
Because the text stays underneath. A drawn box is a shape sitting above the words; select the area, copy it, and the words are still there. It's a mistake made often enough that redacted court filings and government documents have been un-redacted by reporters doing exactly that.
What's the catch?
A redacted page becomes an image, so its text stops being selectable and searchable. That's inherent: the only way to be certain something is gone is to rebuild the page from pixels. Pages you don't mark are copied across untouched and keep their text.
Does it remove the text from search and copy-paste?
On the marked pages, yes, entirely. There is no text layer left to search or copy, because the page is a picture of itself with the sensitive parts painted over before the picture was taken.
Is my document uploaded?
No. That matters more here than on any other tool: redaction usually involves the documents you'd least want on someone else's server. The rendering and rebuilding both happen in this tab.