Redact PDF Online Free: Permanently Remove Text
Black out sensitive text for good. Redacted pages are flattened to images so nothing underneath is recoverable.
Covering text with a black rectangle in a normal PDF editor leaves the original text in the file. Anyone can select, copy, or extract it. This tool does true redaction: pages that contain redaction boxes are flattened to images, so the text and vectors underneath are permanently gone. Search for a name or number to box every occurrence at once, or drag boxes anywhere on the page.
How to Use It
- Redact a PDF. Permanently and wait for the local preview to load.
- Adjust the settings: Adjust the available settings and run the tool locally in your browser.
- Download the result: Download the processed file directly to your device.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from drawing a black rectangle in a PDF editor?
A black rectangle drawn in a normal editor just sits on top of the text. The words are still in the file and can be selected, copied, or extracted, which has caused real-world leaks. This tool re-renders every page that has a redaction box as a flat image with opaque black painted over the boxed areas, so the original text and vectors on that page no longer exist in the output.
What happens to pages I redact?
They are flattened to 200 DPI JPEG images at the same page size. Text on those pages is no longer selectable or searchable (that is the point), and the file size can change. Pages without redaction boxes are copied through untouched, so their text, links, and quality are preserved exactly.
Can it find text in scanned PDFs?
No. The search uses the PDF's embedded text layer, so scanned pages with no text layer return no matches. You can still drag boxes over anything you see on a scanned page, or use our document scanner and redaction tools for image-based documents. Search matches also join text fragments on the same line, so words split across fragments are found.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. Redact PDF runs fully in your browser using pdf.js and pdf-lib. Your file, the text you search for, and the redacted result never leave your device.