Redact PDF
Permanently black out sensitive text or regions in a PDF — free and processed entirely in your browser.
About Redact PDF
A black box drawn on top of text in a PDF doesn't always mean the text underneath is actually gone — in many tools, the original text stays fully intact and extractable underneath the box. That's not redaction, it's a visual cover-up, and it's caused real privacy breaches when “redacted” documents were shared and the hidden text turned out to still be there.
This tool redacts for real: each page is flattened into an image first, the black boxes are drawn directly onto that image, and a new PDF is rebuilt from the redacted images — so the sensitive content is genuinely destroyed, not just hidden underneath a shape. The tradeoff is that redacted pages are no longer selectable or searchable text, the same way a scanned document isn't — a small cost for actually removing what you're trying to remove. Everything runs locally in your browser; your document is never uploaded to a server.
How to Redact a PDF
Step 1
Upload your PDF
Drag and drop the PDF containing sensitive information.
Step 2
Draw your redaction boxes
Draw a box over each region you want permanently removed, on any page.
Step 3
Download your redacted PDF
Get a new PDF with those regions permanently blacked out and destroyed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the text under the black box actually removed, or just covered up?
Actually removed. Each page is converted to an image before the black boxes are applied, so the original text no longer exists in the output file — it can't be selected, copied, or recovered, unlike tools that just draw a shape on top of the original text.
Will my redacted PDF still be searchable or have selectable text?
No — since redacted pages become images to guarantee real removal, text on those pages is no longer selectable or searchable, the same as a scanned document. This is a deliberate tradeoff for genuine redaction, not a bug.
Can I redact more than one region or page?
Yes — draw as many boxes as you need across any pages in the document.
Is my document uploaded anywhere?
No. Every step — rendering, redacting, and rebuilding — happens entirely in your browser.