Drag over anything you want to black out. Click a box to select it, Delete removes it.
Done!
Next step
Black out names, numbers and anything else in a PDF - and make sure it is really gone, not just hidden under a box. Draw boxes, select text or let the search find every email, phone number or IBAN for you. Redacted pages are rebuilt as images, so nobody can copy the text back out. Want to double-check two versions afterwards? Compare PDF shows every change.
Drag over anything you want to black out. Click a box to select it, Delete removes it.
No PDF handy? Try the sample - it is a made-up invoice stuffed with fake emails, phone numbers and an IBAN.
A black rectangle drawn in a normal PDF editor only covers the text.
The words are still in the file, so anyone can select them, copy them or read them with a text extractor. Real leaks have happened exactly this way.
Box drawn on top. The text underneath is still there, still searchable and still copyable.
The page is redrawn as an image with the box burned in. The original text, fonts and layers of that page are deleted from the file.
Pages with no redaction are copied untouched, so most of your document keeps its sharp, selectable text. To make the redacted pages searchable again, run the result through OCR PDF - only the visible words come back.
| Pattern | Examples it catches |
|---|---|
| Emails | jane.doe@example.com |
| Phone numbers | +40 721 234 567, (555) 123-4567 |
| IBAN & cards | RO49 AAAA 1B31 0075 9384 0000, 13-19 digit card numbers that pass the Luhn check |
| Dates | 12/03/2024, 2024-03-12, 12 March 2024, March 12, 2024 |
| Web links | https://example.com/page, www.example.com |
Patterns catch the usual formats, not every possible one. Always scroll through the pages before saving. Scanned pages have no text to search - redact those with boxes, or turn them into text first with OCR PDF.
Drop your PDF in the box above. Drag a box over anything you want hidden, switch to Select text to mark words, or use Search & redact to find a name or every email address at once.
Press Redact & save PDF and the redacted copy downloads right away. It is free, with no sign-up and no watermark.
It is really gone. A black rectangle drawn in most editors only sits on top of the text, so anyone can copy it out from underneath.
This tool redraws every page that has a redaction as a picture with the boxes burned in, then puts that picture in place of the original page. The text, fonts and hidden layers of that page are removed from the file. After saving we even read the new file back and check that the redacted words cannot be found.
Because those pages are now images - that is what makes the redaction safe. Pages without any redaction are copied untouched, so their text stays sharp and selectable.
Need the redacted pages searchable again? Run the result through OCR PDF and the visible words become text again, while the blacked-out parts stay blank.
Yes. Under Search & redact, tick the patterns you need - emails, phone numbers, IBAN and card numbers, dates or web links - and press Find & mark. Every match is marked, and the review list lets you switch single matches off before you save.
You can also search for a word or phrase, with options for matching case and whole words only.
With Remove metadata switched on (the default), the title, author, subject, keywords and the XMP metadata block are wiped. Remove hidden extras also drops bookmarks, attachments, JavaScript, page tags and the form fields of redacted pages, because any of these can quietly repeat the text you blacked out.
200 DPI is the default and looks sharp on screen and on paper. Choose 150 DPI for a smaller file, or 300 DPI for print-quality pages with small print. Only the redacted pages are affected - if the file ends up big, Compress PDF can shrink it.
No. Your PDF is opened, redacted and saved inside your browser, so the sensitive parts never leave your device. That also means the tool keeps working on very private documents like contracts, medical letters and bank statements.
Not while it is locked. If you know the password, remove it first with Unlock PDF, redact the unlocked copy, then lock the result again with Protect PDF if you need to.