Redact a PDF

Permanently remove sensitive content, not just cover it. Everything happens on your device.

Good to know: any marked page becomes a flattened image, so text elsewhere on that page also stops being selectable. The recommended hidden-data option rebuilds every kept page and removes the original metadata, comments, forms, links, scripts, attachments, and hidden layers.

Drop a PDF here, or click to choose one

A quick preview loads once you add a file.

How to redact a PDF

1
Add your file
Drop a PDF into the box, or click to browse and select one from your device.
2
Draw over what needs to go
Choose Draw redaction, then drag directly over the text or image to remove.
3
Fine-tune if needed
Switch to Select to move or resize a mark. Use Pan to drag around a zoomed page.
4
Repeat for other pages if needed
Scroll the preview or use the page controls, then draw more marks as needed.
5
Redact and download
Click Redact PDF and download the result. Nothing was ever sent to a server.

Why a black box alone isn't real redaction

A PDF page is a sequence of drawing instructions carried out in order, text first, then whatever's drawn on top of it. Covering text with a black rectangle only adds a later instruction, the original text stays exactly where it was, still selectable, searchable, and extractable by anyone who knows to look. This has caused real, public data leaks from organizations that assumed a black box meant the underlying text was gone. It wasn't. This tool avoids that failure by converting any page you redact into a flat image, with the box painted permanently into the pixels first. Once a page is a picture, there's no text object left to find.

How this works

Every tool on this site runs entirely inside your browser, no files are ever sent to a server. The rasterization and rebuilding both happen locally, on your device. You can confirm this yourself by opening your browser's developer tools and watching the network tab while you redact a file.

Check the redacted copy before sharing

Make each box slightly larger than the text or image it covers, especially near character edges. Review every page thumbnail before processing. Standard quality uses 144 DPI for a smaller result, while High and Print use more pixels for fine text. Rasterization removes selectable text and can increase file size. After downloading, reopen the result, zoom in around every box, search for a redacted phrase, and try selecting text on that page. Also review document hidden data too. Keep Remove hidden document data selected when the document structure, comments, attachments, forms, scripts, or metadata could reveal sensitive information.

Frequently asked questions

Why not just draw a black box, like Word or a basic PDF editor?

Because that doesn't actually remove anything. A PDF page is a sequence of drawing instructions, text first, then a rectangle painted on top. A black box only adds a later instruction, the original text is still sitting in the file underneath, recoverable by selecting it, searching for it, or opening the file in a text editor. This is a well documented, real cause of data leaks from organizations that assumed a black box meant the text was gone. It wasn't.

So how does this tool actually remove it?

Any page you place a redaction box on gets converted into a flat image, with the box permanently painted into the pixels before that image becomes the page. Once a page is a picture rather than text and drawing instructions, there is nothing left to select, search, or extract, the concept of "the text underneath" no longer applies, because there is no text object there anymore.

Does this affect pages I didn't add a redaction box to?

By default, Remove hidden document data is selected, so every kept page is rebuilt as pixels and hidden data is left behind. You can turn it off to rasterize only marked pages and keep text selectable on unmarked pages.

Does redacting one part of a page affect the rest of that page?

Yes, and this is worth understanding before you rely on it. Once a page contains any redaction, the entire page becomes an image, not just the redacted area. Text elsewhere on that same page will no longer be selectable or searchable either, that's an unavoidable consequence of how this works, not a bug.

Does this remove metadata, like the document author or title?

Yes, when Remove hidden document data is selected. The tool creates a clean PDF from rendered page pixels instead of copying the original document structure. This removes original metadata, comments, forms, links, scripts, attachments, and hidden layers.

How can I check that it actually worked?

Open the downloaded file, go to the page you redacted, and try to select text where the black box is. Nothing should be selectable. That's the same check security professionals recommend for verifying any PDF redaction, not just ours.

Next steps

Choose another private, browser-based tool for the next step in your document workflow.