Redact PDF

Covering text isn’t the same as removing it

A black rectangle drawn over a PDF in most editors only sits on top of the words. The words are still in the file: anyone can select them, copy them or pull them out with a simple tool. Real redaction removes them. This tool paints your boxes into a picture of each page and rebuilds the PDF from those pictures, so what was under a box is no longer in the file at all.

How to redact

1. Choose the PDF, up to 100 MB. A picture of its first page appears, with a box on it.
2. Drag the box over a name, a number or a paragraph, resize it, and press Add box. The box turns black on the picture.
3. Change the page number to add boxes on other pages. Remove a box from the list if you placed it wrong.
4. Choose the sharpness, press Redact the PDF, and download the redacted copy, named with “-redacted” added.

What the redacted copy is like

Every page becomes a picture, so the whole copy has no selectable text, not just the boxed parts. That is deliberate: a page that kept its text layer could still hold hidden words. The pages keep their size and look, apart from the black boxes. Links, bookmarks, form fields, comments and the document’s metadata don’t carry over either, which also keeps hidden details out of the copy.

Before you share it

• Check every page in the downloaded copy: a detail you missed isn’t removed.
• Look for repeats: a name in a header or footer appears on every page and needs a box on each.
• Keep the original for yourself; the redacted copy can’t be turned back.

Good to know

• File size: pages as pictures take more space than text. Standard sharpness keeps the file smallest; Compress PDF can shrink it further.
• Only adding text? Edit PDF adds text and highlights without turning pages into pictures.
• Password-protected PDFs need the password removed first.