Redact PDF

Redact a PDF

To redact a PDF, choose the file, mark the details to remove and download the redacted copy. This free PDF redaction tool runs in your browser without an account. Your file stays on your device.

1. Choose a PDF up to 20 MB with no more than 50 pages. Load example opens a fictional document if you want to try the controls first.
2. Enter an account number, name or phrase in Find text, then choose Mark matches. Search ignores capitalisation and marks whole matching text areas across the PDF.
3. Drag over any other details in the preview. Use Previous and Next to inspect every page, including repeated account numbers in a bank statement.
4. Check the marked areas, confirm that you reviewed every page and download the redacted PDF. Reopen that copy and inspect the black areas before sharing it.

Search reads the PDF’s existing text layer. It cannot find text inside an image-only scan, so draw areas over those details. A matching text area can contain more than the searched words, so review each box.

Choose 100% or 200% preview zoom to read small details. Select Move page to drag or scroll around the enlarged page, then return to Mark areas before drawing.

To draw with the keyboard, focus the preview and move the crosshair with the arrow keys. Press Enter at each corner of the area. Shift moves in larger steps and Escape cancels an unfinished area.

The download contains flattened page images at 144 dots per inch. It removes all selectable text, including text you leave visible. Uncovered text remains readable and can still be recognised by optical character recognition.

Links and interactive fields become part of the page image, and the original’s digital signatures do not validate the copy. Keep the original for your records. The redaction list records each area’s page and position without including your search text.

Why Covering Text Fails

Covering text: A black rectangle annotation can hide letters on screen while leaving the text underneath. Someone can copy or search that text, or remove the rectangle.

Redacting: Permanent redaction removes the covered content from the shared copy. This tool paints the black areas into new page images and builds a fresh PDF from those images. The original text objects and hidden PDF data are absent from the download.

This tool removes the entire selectable text layer, so an empty search result alone cannot prove that you covered every visible detail. Inspect each page as well. Check small text around the edges of each black area.

Redact in Adobe Acrobat

Acrobat Pro applies permanent redactions through its Redact a PDF tool. Adobe’s redaction instructions use this desktop workflow.

1. Open the document, then choose All tools and Redact a PDF.
2. Select Redact text and images, then drag across the content to remove.
3. Review the marked content and select Apply.
4. Enable the option to sanitise and remove hidden information, then select Continue.
5. Save the redacted document with a separate filename. Reopen the saved copy and check the redactions before sending it.

Marking content is the selection step. Apply the redactions and save the document to finish removing it.