Docs

Redact PDF

Draw boxes over anything sensitive. Marked pages are re-rendered as flat images with the boxes burned in — the hidden text is truly gone, not just covered.

Drop a PDF to begin
Document No file loaded
Drop PDF here or click to browse
Any PDF — up to 100 MB
Redacted PDF Awaiting file

The first redacted page will appear here after you apply

Settings Black boxes · 150 DPI
Box colour
How It Works

How to Redact a PDF in 3 Steps

1

Drop a PDF

The first page opens in the viewer. Use ‹ › to move between pages.

2

Draw Boxes

Press and drag over anything to hide — a name, a number, a photo. Draw as many as you need on as many pages as you need. Click a box to select it and Remove if you change your mind.

3

Apply & Download

Pages with boxes are re-rendered as images with the boxes burned in; untouched pages are copied as-is. Check the preview, then download.

FAQ

Redact PDF — Frequently Asked Questions

Is the hidden text really gone?

Yes. Drawing a black rectangle on top of text (what many tools do) leaves the text underneath selectable and searchable. This tool instead renders the whole marked page to an image with the box painted in, so the new page contains no text at all — only pixels, and the pixels under the box are the box.

Why did the text on a redacted page stop being selectable?

That is the trade-off of true redaction: the entire marked page becomes an image. Pages without boxes are untouched and keep their text. If you need the remaining text searchable, redact precisely and keep boxes to as few pages as possible.

Does it remove metadata too?

The output is a freshly built document, so the original title, author, keywords and other Info-dictionary fields are not carried over. Bookmarks and embedded attachments are not copied either.

Which quality should I pick?

150 DPI reads well on screen and in print and keeps files reasonable. Choose 220 DPI for fine print or when the document will be zoomed; 110 DPI for large scans where size matters more.

The tool says my PDF is encrypted — what now?

Password-protected PDFs must be opened with their password before they can be edited. Use the Unlock PDF tool first, then come back.

Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?

No. The document is parsed and rewritten by pdf-lib and rendered by PDF.js (the engine Firefox uses) entirely inside your browser. Nothing is transmitted or stored.