Redact permanently removes sensitive text or images from a PDF — unlike a black box drawn on top, this deletes the underlying content so it can't be recovered by copy-paste or by removing an overlay.
| You want to… | Use this tool |
|---|---|
| Text underneath | Still there — anyone can copy it |
| Search finds it | Yes |
| Hidden inside images | Still visible if the box is moved |
| Can it be undone? | Yes, by deleting the box |
Open the PDF. Contracts, court filings, HR records or any file with details you can't share.
Find what to remove. Drag over text or areas, or use Find & Redact to catch every instance of a name or number.
Choose the redaction color. Black, white, or a custom color.
Apply redactions and download. The content is deleted from the file, not just covered. A log shows what was redacted.
Court clerks redact witness names, addresses, and SSNs from public-record filings before publishing on court websites.
Sales teams redact confidential pricing terms from contract PDFs before sharing with subcontractors or auditors.
Healthcare teams redact patient identifiers from medical PDFs for HIPAA-compliant research and case studies.
No — redaction removes the underlying content entirely; it isn't a cosmetic overlay.
Yes. The redact PDF tool destroys the underlying text/image data in the output — not just visually hides it. Even forensic tools cannot recover redacted content.
Annotation blackouts (drawing a black rectangle) hide content visually but the text is still in the PDF file, recoverable by anyone who selects the area. Redact destroys the data permanently.
Yes. Enter terms (e.g., "John Smith", credit card numbers, SSN patterns) and the redact PDF tool finds and marks all occurrences across all pages for review before permanent removal.
Yes. OCR runs first to extract text, then redact identifies and blacks out content in the rendered image, ensuring scanned text is also permanently removed.
Yes. Each redaction job produces a downloadable log showing what text was redacted, how many instances, and on which pages — required for compliance audits.
Yes. Click images to mark them for redaction. The redact PDF tool blacks out the full image in the output.
Redact assists with compliance by removing PII permanently. Final compliance certification depends on your organization's overall data handling — consult legal counsel.
3 redactions per day on guest and free accounts (Pro feature). Pro gets 50/day, Business unlimited. No credit card for any tier.
Removes password protection from secured PDFs for unrestricted access.
Adds password encryption to your PDF to prevent unauthorized access.
Converts multiple image files into a single organized PDF document.
Transforms your PDF into a fully editable Microsoft Word document.
