Can the removed text be recovered from the exported file?

No. The pages are redrawn from pixels with the boxes already painted, so the characters underneath were never written into the new document.

Why is drawing a black rectangle over text not enough?

Because a rectangle is just another object on the page. The text stays in the content stream beneath it and comes straight out with a copy-paste or a text extraction.

Is my document uploaded during redaction?

No, which is the whole point — a document being redacted is by definition one you cannot send anywhere. Everything happens in this tab.

Does redaction remove the document's metadata too?

No. Metadata is separate from the page content — scan the document for metadata and strip it as a second step.

How many pages can I redact at once?

Up to 40 pages are loaded for marking, which keeps the previews responsive. Split longer documents and redact them in parts.

Redact PDF

Black out names, figures and whole areas so they are gone from the file, not hidden.

Redaction happens entirely on your device. A document you are redacting is one you cannot risk sending anywhere, so nothing here is uploaded.

Check what else the file gives away

About Redact PDF

The classic redaction failure is a black rectangle drawn over text that is still sitting underneath it, ready to be copied out by anyone who selects the page. Courts, newsrooms and government departments have all published documents that way. This tool avoids the trap by construction: the areas you mark are burned into a fresh rendering of each page, so the words behind them do not exist in the exported file rather than merely being hidden. Mark areas by dragging over the page, or type a name or a number and have every occurrence across the document marked at once, then check each page before exporting.

Features

Drag over any area of a page to mark it for removal
Search for a word or number and mark every occurrence across the document
Marked areas are burned into a re-rendered page — the underlying text is gone
Page-by-page review, with any box removable before you export
Clear a whole page's marks in one action
Works on scanned and text PDFs alike, since it operates on the rendering
Counts the marked areas and the pages they fall on

How to use the Redact PDF

Drop the PDF onto the page
Drag over anything that has to go, or search for a term and mark all of it
Page through the document and check every mark
Export the redacted PDF and verify by trying to select the removed text

Example

Input

witness-statement.pdf — search for the surname "Okonkwo"

Output

Every occurrence marked across 6 pages, exported with the name absent from the text layer.

Searching marks the matched run itself, so surrounding words stay readable.

Common errors & troubleshooting

The exported text is no longer selectable. — That is the cost of genuine redaction here: pages are re-rendered, so the whole page becomes an image. Run the result through text recognition if you need it searchable again.
Searching found nothing even though the word is visible. — The PDF is a scan, so there is no text to search. Mark the areas by dragging, which works on any page.
A marked box covers more than intended. — Boxes from a search follow the width of the matched run and the line height. Remove it and drag a tighter box if the surrounding words matter.
The file size grew after redacting. — Re-rendered pages are images, which are usually larger than the vector original. Compress the result if the size matters.

Frequently asked questions

Can the removed text be recovered from the exported file?: No. The pages are redrawn from pixels with the boxes already painted, so the characters underneath were never written into the new document.
Why is drawing a black rectangle over text not enough?: Because a rectangle is just another object on the page. The text stays in the content stream beneath it and comes straight out with a copy-paste or a text extraction.
Is my document uploaded during redaction?: No, which is the whole point — a document being redacted is by definition one you cannot send anywhere. Everything happens in this tab.
Does redaction remove the document's metadata too?: No. Metadata is separate from the page content — scan the document for metadata and strip it as a second step.
How many pages can I redact at once?: Up to 40 pages are loaded for marking, which keeps the previews responsive. Split longer documents and redact them in parts.

Related tools

PDF Privacy Scanner — Find the metadata and personal data hiding inside a PDF.
Flatten PDF — Lock filled form fields into the page so a PDF looks the same everywhere.
PDF Metadata Editor — View, edit or strip a PDF’s title, author, subject, keywords and producer.
Blur & Redact Image — Permanently blur, pixelate or black out parts of a screenshot before sharing it.
Watermark PDF — Add a diagonal text watermark to every page.
Encrypt PDF — Password-protect a PDF with AES-256 or RC4 encryption.
PDF OCR — Recognise the text in a scanned PDF and make it searchable.