Free PDF Redaction Tool - Redact PDFs Privately in Your Browser

What is PDF Redaction?

PDF redaction is the permanent removal of sensitive information from documents. True redaction doesn't just cover text with black boxes—it removes the underlying data so it cannot be recovered.

Why drawing black boxes isn't enough: Simply placing a black rectangle over text leaves the original content underneath. Recipients can often select, copy, or search that "hidden" text. This creates a false sense of security and can lead to accidental disclosure of sensitive information.

How This Tool Works

This free PDF redaction tool uses a flattening approach: it renders each PDF page as an image, applies black boxes over your selected areas, then creates a new PDF from those rendered images. The original text layer is completely removed from the output, so the redacted information cannot be extracted, copied, or searched.

Important: Because the output is a flattened image-based PDF, all text selection, form fields, and links are removed from the entire document—not just from redacted areas. Keep your original file separately.

How to Use This Tool

1. Upload your PDF (it stays in your browser)
2. Use search, pattern detection, or manual selection to mark sensitive areas
3. Review all marked redactions in the list
4. Apply redactions and download the flattened PDF
5. Open the result and verify by trying to select or search for the removed text

The tool can auto-detect email addresses, phone numbers, SSNs, credit card numbers, dates, and IP addresses. You can also search for specific text or manually select any area on the page.

Always verify your output: Inspect every page visually, try copying text from redacted areas, and search the PDF for sensitive terms before sharing. For more guidance, see our PDF redaction guide.