Privacy · Security · Permanent Redaction

PDF
Redactor

Draw boxes over sensitive content — redactions are burned permanently into the PDF.

🔒

Drop your PDF here

Draw redaction boxes over sensitive content, then download the secured PDF

✏️ Draw to Redact

Click and drag on any page to draw a redaction box. Remove it before applying if needed.

🔒 Permanent

Redactions are painted directly onto PDF pages — content underneath cannot be recovered.

🛡️ 100% Private

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What is PDF redaction?

PDF redaction is the permanent removal of sensitive text or images from a PDF document, replaced with solid black bars. Unlike highlighting text or drawing a black box on top, true redaction removes the underlying content from the PDF data itself — the redacted information cannot be recovered by selecting the area, viewing the source, or removing a layer.

Redaction is the legally required method for removing confidential information before disclosing documents in legal proceedings, responding to freedom of information requests, or sharing documents that contain a mix of public and private data. EditPDF AI's redactor removes content permanently, with an optional AI scanner to detect sensitive patterns automatically.

Practical examples

Common ways people use this tool in real documents and day-to-day workflows.

Legal teams & law firms

Redact privileged information, opposing party details, and third-party personal data from documents before court production and discovery.

Government & public sector

Remove personal details and classified information from documents before publishing them in response to freedom of information requests.

HR & people teams

Redact names, salaries, and personal identifiers from employee documents before sharing with external auditors or legal review.

Healthcare & clinical teams

Remove patient names, dates of birth, and identifiers from medical records and clinical reports before sharing for research or review.

How it works

Upload your PDF

Select the PDF containing sensitive information you want to permanently remove.

Select text to redact

Highlight text on the page or use the AI-assisted detection to find names, dates, phone numbers, and other sensitive patterns automatically.

Apply and download

Click Redact. The selected content is permanently removed and replaced with black bars. Download the sanitised PDF.

Frequently asked questions

Is the redaction permanent?+

Yes. The text is removed from the PDF content stream entirely and replaced with a solid black rectangle. It cannot be recovered by selecting, copying, or viewing the source.

Can AI detect what to redact automatically?+

Yes. The AI scanner can identify patterns like names, email addresses, phone numbers, dates, and financial figures. You review and approve the suggestions before applying.

Does redaction work on scanned PDFs?+

For scanned PDFs (image-only), the redaction removes the image pixels in the selected area. Run OCR first if you need text-based detection on a scanned document.

Can I redact images as well as text?+

Yes. Draw a redaction box over any area — text or image — and it will be permanently blacked out in the output.

Is the unredacted document sent to any server?+

The original PDF is processed securely. If AI detection is used, text is sent to our AI backend. All data is deleted immediately after processing.