Is it safe to redact a PDF online?

Yes — and ours is safer than most. Many free online tools quietly upload your files to their servers to do the work. We don't. Everything happens inside your browser on your own device, so your files never reach the internet. There's no upload step, no server copy, and no way for us (or anyone else) to see what you're working on.

Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. There's no server-side processing here. The whole tool is a tiny app that runs in your browser — we don't even have a server that could receive your files. You can confirm this by opening your browser's network tab while you use the tool: nothing leaves your device.

Do I need to sign up or pay?

No. There's no account, no email collection, no credit card. The tool is free to use as much as you want, on as many files as you want. We're supported by a few unobtrusive ads on the page — not by your data.

How is this different from drawing a black box?

Black-box overlays leave the original text in the file. Anyone can copy-paste or extract it. True redaction (what we do) deletes the text bytes from the content stream — they're gone, forever.

Will the redactions be obvious?

Yes, you'll see filled rectangles where the text was. That's the standard look for redacted documents.

Images that overlap a redaction quad are also removed. To redact a specific image region, use Crop.

Redact PDF

Permanently remove sensitive text from a PDF. Unlike tools that just draw black rectangles on top, this uses MuPDF's redaction API to actually delete the underlying text bytes — copy-paste and search both come up empty.

Features

Real text removal, not visual cover-up
Find every match of any word or phrase
Preview which pages will be affected before applying
Black, white, or grey fill colour
Strips overlapping images and line art

How to redact pdf

Drop the PDF — Drag the PDF that contains sensitive text.
Add redaction rules — Type each word or phrase to remove. Click "Add rule" for more.
Preview matches — See exactly which pages contain matches before applying.
Apply — Download the redacted PDF — the matched text is gone, not just hidden.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to redact a PDF online?: Yes — and ours is safer than most. Many free online tools quietly upload your files to their servers to do the work. We don't. Everything happens inside your browser on your own device, so your files never reach the internet. There's no upload step, no server copy, and no way for us (or anyone else) to see what you're working on.
Are my files uploaded to a server?: No. There's no server-side processing here. The whole tool is a tiny app that runs in your browser — we don't even have a server that could receive your files. You can confirm this by opening your browser's network tab while you use the tool: nothing leaves your device.
Do I need to sign up or pay?: No. There's no account, no email collection, no credit card. The tool is free to use as much as you want, on as many files as you want. We're supported by a few unobtrusive ads on the page — not by your data.
How is this different from drawing a black box?: Black-box overlays leave the original text in the file. Anyone can copy-paste or extract it. True redaction (what we do) deletes the text bytes from the content stream — they're gone, forever.
Will the redactions be obvious?: Yes, you'll see filled rectangles where the text was. That's the standard look for redacted documents.
Can I redact images?: Images that overlap a redaction quad are also removed. To redact a specific image region, use Crop.