Redact a PDF
Drop a PDF here or click to browse
Select text or draw a box over anything that has to go.
Log in or sign up free to import from Google Drive or Dropbox.
The words a box covers are taken out of the file itself, a character at a time, and the covered pixels of a picture are blanked in the picture, rather than hidden under a rectangle. A drawing is deleted only if a box covers all of it. Text and pictures your boxes do not touch stay as they were, but links, comments and form fields are removed from every page.
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Removed, not covered up
A black rectangle drawn over a PDF can be moved aside or copied through. Here the words a box covers are taken out of the file a character at a time, the pixels of a picture under it are blanked in the picture itself, and a drawing the box covers completely is deleted. A line or shape that runs out from under a box is kept whole, including the part beneath the black, so box a drawn signature or chart from edge to edge.
The rest stays selectable
Only text your boxes cover is removed. Every other word keeps its own place in the file, so you can still select, search and copy it — and a word a box merely clips goes whole, so no half of a number is left to read. Links are removed from every page, along with comments and form fields. A web address written in the text stays as text, and your PDF viewer may still make it clickable. A page you did not draw on keeps all of its text and pictures.
Checked before you get it
The finished file is read back before it is offered. If a word you redacted is still in it as text, or a page you redacted is still inside it as it was, you get a warning instead of a download. The check is an aid, not a guarantee, so search the file for what you redacted before you share it.
How it works
Three simple steps
The redaction runs on our server, and your PDF is deleted within about five minutes of you leaving the page.
Upload your PDF
Drop in the document. Every page opens below, however many there are.
Select or draw
Drag across text and press Redact, or switch to Draw box for pictures and signatures. Show peeks under your redactions, and Undo takes back the last one.
Download the redacted file
Press Redact and download. The file is rebuilt, checked, and downloaded as a new PDF. Your original is not changed.