How to redact a PDF
- Choose your PDF. Click the box above and pick the file. Its pages appear below; nothing is sent anywhere.
- Draw boxes. Drag with a mouse, finger or stylus over names, account numbers, signatures or anything else to hide. Remove a box with its × button.
- Save. Click Save redacted PDF and download the copy. The file name ends in
-redacted; your original is not changed.
Why a black box alone isn’t redaction
Most PDF editors draw a rectangle on top of the page. It looks redacted, but the text is still in the file underneath: anyone can select it, copy and paste it, find it with search, or simply delete the rectangle. Court filings and government reports have leaked this way.
This tool removes the text instead. Each page with a box is redrawn as a picture with the boxes painted in, and that picture replaces the page. There is no text left under the black, so there is nothing to copy back.
Good to know
- Redacted pages become images. Text on a page with a box is no longer selectable or searchable, anywhere on that page. That’s the point: it’s what makes the redaction permanent. They’re saved at about 180 dpi, sharp enough to read and print.
- Pages without boxes are untouched. They keep their selectable text and links, and the file stays small.
- Metadata is removed. The saved file has no title, author, subject, keywords, creator or producer, and bookmarks are dropped because their titles can quote what you hid.
- Check every page. If a name appears on page 1 and page 9, box it on both. Pages you don’t mark keep all their text.
- Password-protected PDFs need unlocking first with Unlock PDF.
Your PDF stays on your device
Documents that need redacting are the ones you least want on someone else’s server. Here, the pages are drawn with the open-source PDF.js library and the redacted file is built with pdf-lib, both inside this browser tab.
The page’s security policy tells your browser to block uploads, so the document can’t leave your device even by accident. You can check: open your browser’s developer tools, watch the Network tab, and redact a file. How InTheTab works
You’ll also see a few small requests to Google Analytics. That’s our visit counter, and it never receives your files. Privacy policy
Questions
Why isn’t a black box drawn over a PDF enough to redact it?
A box drawn on top of a PDF only covers the text visually. The text is still stored in the file underneath, so anyone can select it, copy it, search for it or delete the box. Real redaction removes the text. This tool does that by turning every page you mark into an image with the boxes burned in.
Why can’t I select text on the redacted pages any more?
Each page with a box is saved as a picture of the page, at about 180 dpi, with the boxes painted in. A picture has no text layer, which is what makes the redaction permanent. Pages without boxes are copied unchanged and keep their selectable text and links.
Is it safe to redact a confidential PDF here?
Yes. The PDF is opened and rebuilt by your own browser and is never uploaded. We never get your files: the site has no accounts, and its only analytics, Google Analytics, counts visits without ever seeing your document.
Does the redacted PDF still contain the author or title?
No. The saved file has no title, author, subject, keywords, creator or producer, and bookmarks are removed because their titles can quote the text you hid. Form fields and comments on redacted pages are removed too, because those pages become images.
Do I need to install anything or sign up?
No. It runs in any modern browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android or iPhone. It’s free, there’s no sign-up and no watermark is added.