← Back to Tools

Redact PDF Online, for Real

Black out names, account numbers and anything else in a PDF so it is actually gone, not just covered up. Draw boxes or search the text, then download a copy where every redacted page is flattened and the text under the boxes no longer exists. Everything runs in your browser: the file is never uploaded.

Drop a PDF here or click to choose one

Files up to about 100 MB and 300 pages work best. The PDF stays on your device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my PDF uploaded to a server?+
No. The PDF is opened, rendered, searched and rebuilt entirely in your browser with pdf.js and pdf-lib. The file and its contents never leave your device. Apart from the site itself and a cookieless page-view counter, the only extra download is the pdf.js engine (code, fonts and character maps) from the jsDelivr CDN.
Can the redaction be undone?+
Not from the downloaded file. Every page with a box is replaced by an image of that page with the boxes painted into the pixels, so the text, fonts and drawing commands that were under the boxes are not in the new file at all. There is no hidden layer to peel off. Your original file is never changed, so keep it somewhere safe if you need the unredacted version later.
Will the redacted PDF be bigger than the original?+
Usually, yes. A text page is stored as compact drawing instructions, while a flattened page is a full image, so expect several hundred KB per page at 200 DPI. 150 DPI makes smaller files that still read well on screen, and 300 DPI is sharper for print but larger. PNG, the default, is lossless and is often the smaller choice for pages that are mostly text, while JPEG suits scans and photos. If you keep pages without boxes as they are, those pages do not grow.
Can I redact a scanned PDF?+
Yes. Draw boxes over the parts you want gone and export as usual: the scan is rendered again with the boxes burned in. Search cannot find words in a plain scan, because a scan is a picture of text rather than text. If the scan has an OCR text layer, search finds that text, and flattening removes the layer.
Can I redact a password-protected PDF?+
Yes, if you know the password. Enter it when the tool asks and the file is decrypted in your browser. Because this tool cannot copy pages out of an encrypted file, every page of the redacted copy is flattened to an image, and the copy is saved without a password. Add a new password in your PDF app afterwards if you need one.
Which pages stay searchable?+
With the default setting, none: every page is flattened to an image, so the new file carries nothing over from the original. Turn on “Keep pages without redactions as they are” to copy pages without a box from your original file, so their text stays selectable and searchable. A page that shares an embedded font with a redacted page is still flattened, because the font holds the redacted characters. In files exported from word processors or browsers, that is often most pages. So is a page that shares content with a redacted page, such as one half of a split scan, and a page that draws content outside its visible area. A PDF can hide data in many places, so leave the option off for anything sensitive.

Learn More

More ways to keep sensitive details out of the files you share:

How to Redact a PDF

Five steps, no software to install and no account required.

  1. Open the PDF: drop it on the box above or click to choose it. If the file has a password, the tool asks for it first.
  2. Find what has to go: type a name, number or phrase into Find & mark, or use the presets for email addresses, phone numbers and long numbers. Every match gets a black box.
  3. Review every page: the page strip shows a red badge on each page with boxes. Delete boxes you do not need and drag new ones over anything search cannot see, like signatures, photos or scanned text.
  4. Pick the quality: 200 DPI suits most documents. Choose 300 DPI for print or 150 DPI for the smallest file. PNG, the default, keeps text crisp and is often smaller for text pages, while JPEG suits scans and photos.
  5. Redact and download: the tool flattens the pages, checks that no selectable text is left on the redacted ones and saves name-redacted.pdf. Open it and try to select the text under a box to see for yourself.

Why a Black Box Is Not a Redaction

In most PDF editors, drawing a black rectangle or highlighting text in black adds a shape or an annotation on top of the page. The text underneath is still in the file, and anyone who receives it can:

  • Copy it: select the area under the box, copy, and paste the text somewhere else.
  • Search it: the viewer's find feature jumps straight to the words you thought were hidden.
  • Extract it: text extraction tools, screen readers and scripts read the text layer and ignore whatever is drawn on top.
  • Remove the box: annotations and shapes are separate objects, so any PDF editor can move or delete them.

The same goes for turning text white, covering it with a white shape or cropping it out of view: the content is hidden but still sitting in the file. Document properties, comments and earlier saved versions of the file can give away even more. Real redaction removes the content itself.

How This Tool Redacts

By default, every page is flattened: it is rendered to an image at the quality you pick, the boxes are painted solid black into the pixels, and that image becomes the only content of a page in a brand-new PDF. This removes:

  • All text, including the text under the boxes and any invisible OCR layer
  • Vector graphics and embedded fonts
  • Annotations, comments, links and form fields (what they showed on the page stays visible in the image)
  • Hidden layers and anything outside the visible page area

For the whole file, the title, author, subject, keywords, creator and producer fields are left empty, and bookmarks, document-level attachments and earlier saved revisions are not carried over, because the result is a new file rather than an edited copy. If you turn on “Keep pages without redactions as they are”, pages without a box are copied from the original instead and keep their selectable text, comments and form fields.

What you gain

  • Nothing under a box can be copied, searched or extracted
  • The result looks the same in every viewer
  • Comments, form data and hidden text are gone from every page

The trade-off

  • Flattened pages are no longer text-searchable
  • The file usually gets bigger
  • Fine print depends on the DPI you choose

Need searchable text again? Run OCR on the redacted file afterwards, as described in How to OCR a PDF on Mac. OCR only reads what is visible on the page, so the blacked-out parts stay gone.

Checklist Before You Share a Redacted PDF

  • Search every variant: full name, surname alone, initials, email handles, and numbers written with and without spaces or dashes.
  • Check headers and footers: names, case numbers and account numbers often repeat at the top or bottom of every page.
  • Think twice before keeping pages as text: with “Keep pages without redactions as they are” on, comments, form fields and attachments on those pages come along. Leave it off if any of them are sensitive.
  • Cover images by hand: photos, signatures, stamps and charts contain no searchable text.
  • Rename the file: the download keeps the original name plus -redacted, and a file name can say more than you think.
  • Check the document properties: in your viewer's properties dialog, title and author should be empty.
  • Test the result: open the downloaded file, try to select text under a box, and search for one of the redacted words.

Related Tools

Blur Image

Hide details in screenshots

Pixelate Image

Mosaic over faces and data

PDF Page Remover

Delete whole pages from a PDF