What is Redact PDF?
Redaction permanently removes sensitive information from a document so it cannot be recovered, unlike drawing a black box over it.
How to use Redact PDF
- 1
Open your PDF.
- 2
Draw boxes over sensitive areas, or search for words and patterns such as emails or IBANs.
- 3
Click Redact permanently and download the verified result.
Features
- Manual box drawing and text search
- Presets for emails, phone numbers, IBANs and card numbers
- Affected pages rebuilt as images—no hidden text, layers or metadata
- Automatic verification after redaction
Supported formats
Maximum file size: 100 MB per file.
Practical uses
- Remove personal data before publishing documents.
- Hide account numbers in statements you share.
- Anonymize contracts and case files.
Limitations
- Redacted pages become images, so their remaining text is no longer selectable (run OCR if needed).
- Automatic search finds text in the PDF's text layer only; review every page, especially scans.
- Pages without redactions are kept as they are.
Frequently asked questions
Why not just draw a black rectangle?
A rectangle only covers the text visually; it can still be copied or extracted. Real redaction deletes it.
How do I know it worked?
After redaction the tool re-reads the output and confirms no text remains on redacted pages and none of your search terms can be found.