Permanently hide sensitive text and sanitize your documents.
Click or Drag & Drop to Open Redaction Editor
In the digital age, information privacy is not just a luxury; it is a necessity. Whether you are a legal professional dealing with court documents, a human resources manager handling resumes, or an individual sharing bank statements as proof of address, there is always sensitive data that needs to be hidden. This is where PDF Redaction comes into play.
Our Online PDF Redaction Tool allows you to permanently black out text, images, and confidential numbers from your PDF documents. Unlike simple masking or highlighting, our tool performs a true "sanitization" process, ensuring that the hidden information is completely destroyed and cannot be recovered by any means.
Redaction is the process of censoring or obscuring part of a text for legal or security purposes. In the context of PDF files, true redaction involves three critical steps:
Many people mistakenly think that drawing a black rectangle over text in Microsoft Word or a basic PDF viewer is enough. It is not. In those cases, the text still exists underneath the rectangle and can be easily retrieved. Our tool solves this problem by hard-baking the redaction into the file.
Failing to redact documents properly can lead to severe consequences, including identity theft, financial fraud, and legal penalties (such as GDPR or HIPAA violations). Here are the main reasons to use our specialized tool:
Once you process your file with our tool, the black boxes become permanent. We use server-side processing (Ghostscript technology) to flatten the transparency layers. This means the black box and the white page become one single layer. Even if someone tries to use advanced editing software, there is no "layer" to move aside.
PDFs contain hidden data called metadata. This can include the author's name, the software used to create the file, creation dates, and sometimes even previous edit history. Our tool automatically strips this metadata during the sanitization process, ensuring complete anonymity.
You don't need to download heavy software like Adobe Acrobat Pro. Our tool runs directly in your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge). It works on Windows, macOS, Linux, and even on mobile devices like iPhones and Android tablets.
We have designed our interface to be intuitive and fast. Follow these steps to secure your document in seconds:
Click on the "Select PDF" button or drag and drop your file into the upload zone. Our visual editor will load your pages instantly.
Use your mouse to draw rectangles over the information you want to hide. You can cover names, addresses, social security numbers (SSN), credit card details, or even entire paragraphs.
Note: During this step, the boxes may look semi-transparent red or grey to help you position them accurately. Don't worry—they will turn solid opaque black in the final file.
Click the "Apply & Sanitize" button. Our system will take your coordinates, paint solid black pixels over the designated areas, flatten the document layers, and remove the metadata. Within moments, your secure PDF is ready for download.
Lawyers must often share evidence or case files with opposing counsel or the public. Redaction is essential to protect the identities of witnesses, minors, or unrelated third parties mentioned in the documents.
To promote unbiased hiring, many companies now practice "blind recruitment," where names, genders, and universities are redacted from resumes before hiring managers review them. Our tool makes this bulk processing easy.
When applying for a rental or a loan, you may need to provide bank statements. You can use our tool to black out your account number and individual transaction details while keeping the header and summary visible to prove your income.
Medical records shared for research or insurance purposes must have patient identifiers removed to comply with strict privacy laws like HIPAA. Redaction ensures patient confidentiality.
Currently, our tool uses the industry-standard Solid Black for redactions to ensure maximum security and contrast. This is the universally accepted format for legal and official documents.
Yes. Security is our top priority. We use SSL encryption for file transfers. Furthermore, we operate on a strict "zero-retention" policy. Your original files and the redacted output are automatically deleted from our servers shortly after processing. We do not read, store, or share your documents.
No. Once redacted and flattened by our tool, the text is physically removed from the document's visual and code structure. Search functions will simply skip over the redacted areas as if they were blank images.
Yes. Whether your PDF is a text-document converted from Word or a scanned image of a paper document, our visual editor allows you to draw over any part of the page effectively.
We support files up to 64MB, which covers the vast majority of legal contracts, statements, and reports. If your file is larger, we recommend compressing it first using our PDF Compress tool.
Protect your privacy today. Use the free Redact PDF tool above to sanitize your documents before sharing them!
