Redact PDF
Black out names, numbers and any sensitive text in a PDF — permanently. AI finds the personal data for you, you check it, and the hidden text is removed from the file for good.
2 free PDFs a month · up to 25 pages · 25 MB · no sign-up
Permanent
Text under a redaction is deleted, not covered.
AI-assisted
Names, IDs and contact details found for you.
Any device
Runs in the browser on desktop and mobile.
Private
Your PDF file is processed in your browser.
How to redact a PDF online
Redacting a PDF takes about a minute. Upload the file, check what the AI marked, add anything it missed and download a clean copy.
Upload your PDF
Select a PDF or drop it on the box above. Files up to 25 pages and 25 MB open straight away, with no account needed. Password-protected PDFs are unlocked after you type the password.
Let AI find what to redact
The editor scans every page and highlights names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, ID and account numbers, dates of birth and more. Scanned pages go through OCR first, so image-only PDFs work too.
Review and add your own redactions
Accept or reject each suggestion, draw boxes over anything else, or search for a word or phrase and redact every match at once. Faces and handwritten signatures can be detected as well.
Download the redacted PDF
Click Download. The redacted PDF is built in your browser: covered text is removed from the file, not just hidden under a black box, so it cannot be copied, searched or recovered.
What you can redact in a PDF
The editor combines an AI model with pattern and checksum rules, so it catches both free-form personal data and exact identifiers. Every suggestion stays editable.
Names and personal details
People’s names, home addresses, dates of birth, nationalities and other personal data.
Contact information
Email addresses, phone and fax numbers, websites and usernames.
ID and account numbers
Social Security numbers, passport and ID card numbers, tax IDs, IBANs, bank account and credit card numbers — checked by pattern and checksum.
Faces and signatures
Photos of people and handwritten signatures on scanned pages, detected by models that run in your browser.
Any word or phrase
Search the document and redact every occurrence of a case number, a company name or any other term in one click.
Scanned PDFs and images
Pages without a text layer are read with OCR, so scanned contracts, letters and forms can be redacted too.
Permanent redaction, not just a black box
Drawing a black rectangle over text in a PDF viewer does not redact it. The words are still in the file: anyone can select them, copy them into another document or find them with search. Court filings, government reports and company documents have leaked exactly this way.
True PDF redaction removes the content as well as hiding it. When you download from redact-pdf.app, every page is rebuilt: redacted areas are burned into the page, and the text under them is simply not written to the new file. Text you didn’t redact stays selectable and searchable.
Because the output is a newly generated PDF, the original file’s metadata, comments, form fields and hidden layers are not carried over either — a common source of accidental leaks that a black box can’t fix.
Check any redacted PDF in 10 seconds
- Open the redacted PDF.
- Press Ctrl+A (⌘A on Mac) and copy.
- Paste into a text editor.
- If any redacted words appear, the redaction failed.
Redact PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
redact-pdf.app is a web app, so it works the same everywhere — no download, no plugin, no account.
Redact PDF on Windows
Use Edge, Chrome or Firefox on Windows 10 or 11. Drop the PDF from File Explorer onto the upload box and download the redacted copy to your Downloads folder.
Redact PDF on Mac
Preview can only draw shapes over text — it does not remove it. In Safari or Chrome on macOS, open the PDF here instead and the text under each redaction is deleted.
Redact PDF on iPhone and iPad
Open redact-pdf.app in Safari, tap Select PDF and pick a file from the Files app, iCloud Drive or a mail attachment. Save the result back to Files or share it.
Redact PDF on Android
In Chrome on Android, choose a PDF from your downloads or Google Drive, tap to review the highlights and download the redacted file.
Redact a PDF without Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat’s Redact tool is part of the paid Pro plan, and free PDF viewers can only cover text. Here is how the options compare.
| redact-pdf.app | Acrobat Pro | Black box in a free viewer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Removes the text under the redaction | |||
| Finds personal data automatically | Search patterns only | ||
| Works on scanned PDFs (OCR) | |||
| Detects faces and signatures | |||
| Nothing to install | |||
| Price | Free (2 PDFs/month) | Paid subscription | Free |
Who needs to redact PDF documents?
Lawyers and paralegals
Remove client names, account numbers and other protected details from court filings, exhibits and discovery documents.
HR and recruiting
Anonymise CVs, contracts and payslips before sharing them with colleagues or for blind hiring.
Healthcare
Strip patient names, dates and record numbers from medical reports before research use or sharing.
Public sector
Prepare documents for freedom-of-information and subject access requests without exposing third parties.
Finance and real estate
Hide bank details, tax IDs and signatures in statements, leases and loan documents.
Everyone else
Send a bank statement, ID scan or utility bill and show only what the other side really needs.
Privacy and security
Your PDF file is not uploaded. It is opened, rendered and turned into the redacted PDF inside your browser, and it is stored only on your device until you open another file.
To find personal data, the text of each page is sent over an encrypted connection to our detection service, which returns the matches and stores nothing. OCR, face detection and signature detection run on your device.
To apply the free monthly allowance we record the file name, size and page count, with a browser fingerprint and IP address to tell visitors apart — never the document’s content.
PDF file stays in your browser
Zero retention for detection text
Encrypted connections (HTTPS) only
No account, no email address needed
Need to redact more than a few PDFs?
redact-pdf.app is a quick, free way to redact 2 PDFs a month of up to 25 pages and 25 MB each. For regular work, pdf-redaction.com runs the same engine with more.
Batch redaction
Queue many documents and redact them in one go.
Longer documents
Paid plans raise the page and file-size limits.
Redaction Studio
Desktop and web workspace for document-heavy teams.
Redaction API
Add PDF redaction to your own app or workflow.
Redact PDF: frequently asked questions
Is it really free to redact a PDF here?
Yes. redact-pdf.app redacts 2 PDFs a month for free, each up to 25 pages and 25 MB. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no credit card. If you need more, the same engine is available with more pages and batch processing on pdf-redaction.com.
How do I redact text in a PDF?
Open the PDF here, review the highlights the AI suggests, add your own boxes or search for words to redact, and click Download. The text under each redaction is removed from the new PDF, so it can’t be copied or found with search.
Can redacted text be recovered?
No. Many “redacted” PDFs only draw a black rectangle over text that is still in the file, so it can be copied out. redact-pdf.app rebuilds every page: redacted areas are burned into the page image and the text underneath is not written to the new file.
Is redacting the same as blacking out text?
Blacking out is what redaction looks like, but real redaction also deletes the hidden content. Highlighting text in black, or drawing a shape over it in a PDF viewer, leaves the words in the file. Use a redaction tool so the original text is actually removed.
Can I redact a scanned PDF?
Yes. Scanned pages have no text layer, so the editor runs OCR (optical character recognition) to read them first, then finds personal data the same way as in a digital PDF. You can also draw boxes over any area by hand.
Do I need Adobe Acrobat Pro to redact a PDF?
No. Acrobat’s Redact tool is part of the paid Pro plan. redact-pdf.app works in any modern browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android, with nothing to install.
Is my document uploaded?
Your PDF file stays in your browser: it is opened, rendered and turned into the redacted PDF on your device. To find personal data, the text of each page is sent to our detection service, which processes it and stores nothing. OCR, face and signature detection run in your browser.
What are the limits of the free tool?
2 documents per month per browser, up to 25 pages and 25 MB per document. A document counts once you download its redacted copy, and the allowance resets on the 1st of every month. The sample document never counts.
Does it work on Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. The redactor runs entirely in the browser — Safari, Chrome, Edge or Firefox — on desktop and mobile. On a phone, the editor fits the small screen and you can tap to accept or remove redactions.
Does it help with GDPR, HIPAA and FOIA requests?
It finds the personal data those rules care about — names, contact details, ID numbers, health and financial identifiers — and removes it permanently, which is the core of preparing documents for disclosure, subject access requests or anonymised sharing. Always review the result before you share it.