Redact a PDF

How to redact a PDF

1. Choose a PDF file or drop it on the box.
2. Drag boxes over what to hide, or type a word or number and press "Find and cover all". Look through every page to be sure.
3. Press "Redact and save".

Your files stay on your device

This tool opens the file from your device, redacts it in your browser and saves the new file back to your device. Neither the file nor the words you search for are uploaded, and nothing is kept. Your original file is not changed.

Good to know

• How it really removes: every page that has a box is drawn again as a picture with the black boxes painted into it, and that picture replaces the whole old page. The old page's text, links, forms and hidden layers are not in the new file (a test checks this). So a redacted page cannot have its text selected or copied at all, and it is as sharp as 200 dpi allows.
• The new file has none of the old one's document properties (title, author, keywords) or outline. Pages without a box are copied as they were, including any comments or hidden data on them.
• Finding a word relies on the text in the file. A scan has no text to find: draw the boxes yourself, or run OCR first. Where a found word sits on the page is estimated, so check every box before you save, and open the result and try to select text where the boxes are.
• Files locked with a password need to be unlocked first.

Report a problem or suggest an idea

Found a problem, or want this tool to do more? Tell us on the feedback page. No sign-up needed.