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Redact PDF

Redact PDF removes names, numbers and other private details from a PDF for good. Draw boxes over anything you want gone, search for words and phrases, or pick ready patterns for emails, phone numbers, card numbers, PAN and Aadhaar numbers. Many free tools only draw a black rectangle on top, and the text underneath can still be copied. Here every page with a redaction is rebuilt as an image with the boxes burned in, so the covered text is deleted from the file. Pages you don't touch keep their selectable text. Document properties are cleared by default, and the finished file is searched again to confirm your matches are gone. It all runs in your browser.

Always freeNo sign upRuns in your browser

How to use

01

Open the PDF

Drop a PDF of up to 150 MB on the upload area. The first page opens in the editor, and the arrows or the page box move between pages.

02

Mark what to remove

Drag on the page to draw a box, or type words in Find text to redact and tick patterns such as Email addresses or Card numbers. Review the matches, untick any you want to keep, then click Mark. Whole pages can be blacked out with a range like 2, 5-7.

03

Apply and download

Pick the box colour and optional text such as REDACTED, then click Apply redactions. The tool rebuilds the marked pages, checks the result for leftover matches, and gives you the redacted PDF to download.

Why Redact PDF

Why a black box is not a redaction

A PDF page is built in layers. Text is stored as characters, and a rectangle drawn on top only changes what you see. Select the area and copy, and the words under the box paste out cleanly. Search engines and screen readers ignore the box too. Court filings and government reports have leaked this way many times.

True redaction removes the content itself. This tool does it by turning each marked page into an image with the boxes already painted in, then building the new PDF from those images. There is no hidden text layer for anyone to copy.

What ends up in the redacted file

The table shows how each part of the original PDF is handled.

Part of the PDFIn the redacted file
Pages with boxesReplaced by an image with the boxes burned in
Pages without boxesCopied as they are, text still selectable
Title, author, dates, XMPRemoved unless you untick the option
Bookmarks, attachments, scriptsNever copied
Form fieldsBurned into the image on redacted pages, copied as they are on other pages

A check before you share

After applying, the tool searches the new file again with your last search. If matches remain, they are on pages you left alone, and the message tells you how many.

  • Page through the preview and look at every box.
  • Search the downloaded file in your PDF reader for a name you removed.
  • Check headers, footers, stamps and signatures, which people often forget.
  • Keep the original file private. It still holds everything.

Common questions

Is this real PDF redaction or just a black box over the text?
Real redaction. Every page that has a box is drawn as an image, the boxes are painted into that image, and the page is replaced by it. The original text, fonts and drawings of that page are not copied into the new file, so nothing under a box can be selected, searched or recovered.
Why can't I select text on the redacted pages any more?
Because those pages are now images. That is what makes the redaction safe, since a page that still carried its text could leak it. Pages without boxes keep their normal text. If you need the redacted pages searchable, run the finished file through OCR PDF. It can only read what is still visible, so redacted words stay gone.
How do I redact every email address or phone number in a PDF?
In Find text to redact, tick Email addresses or Phone numbers and click Find. Every match is listed with its page and the text around it. Untick anything you want to keep, click Mark, and each match gets a box. The phone pattern looks for runs of 8 to 15 digits, so check the list before you apply.
Can I redact a scanned PDF?
Yes, by drawing boxes by hand, because a scan is already a picture of each page. Search can't find words in a scan since there is no text to search. To search a scan, run it through OCR PDF first, then open the OCR'd copy here and search it.
Does redacting a PDF also remove its metadata?
By default, yes. The title, author, subject, keywords, dates and XMP metadata are left out of the redacted file. Untick Remove document properties to keep the title, author, subject and keywords. Bookmarks, attachments and scripts are never copied, because they can hold the same private details.
Can a redaction be undone after I download the file?
No. That is the point of redaction, and it is why you should keep your original file somewhere safe. Before you apply, the Undo button and the box list let you change anything. Once the redacted PDF is saved, the covered content is not in it.
What colour should PDF redaction boxes be?
Black is the usual choice and makes it obvious that something was removed. White hides the gap, which suits forms you plan to reuse, but readers may not notice anything is missing. You can also pick any colour and print a short label such as REDACTED or an exemption code inside each box.
Why is my redacted PDF larger than the original?
Rebuilt pages are images, and an image of a text page takes more space than the text did. To keep the file smaller, choose JPEG instead of PNG, or 150 DPI instead of 200. Only pages with boxes are turned into images unless you tick Flatten every page.
Does the PDF redaction tool work on a phone?
Yes. Drag with your finger on the page to draw a box, and drag a box or its blue corner to move or resize it. The page itself does not scroll while you draw, so scroll using the space around it. Search, patterns and whole-page redaction work the same as on a computer.
Is my PDF uploaded when I redact it here?
No. The file is opened, searched and rebuilt by code running in your browser tab. That matters for redaction in particular, because the file you start with is the one holding the private details.

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