Redact PDF
Permanently remove confidential content.
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Redact PDF help
Permanently cover selected areas in a new image-only PDF. The export rebuilds the visible pages so the original text beneath the marked areas is not carried into the new file.
How to use Redact PDF
- Choose the PDF and use Add area or draw a box over information to remove.
- Use Find text to redact for selectable text if useful, then review every marked area.
- Select Preview redactions and review the marked areas. Select Apply redaction, then Confirm redaction in the warning.
- Select Download redacted PDF and inspect every page before sharing.
Options explained
- Marked areas
- Draw and review rectangles over information that must not survive in the new copy.
- Find
- Search selectable text to suggest areas to cover; scans may not have searchable text and every suggestion needs review.
- Confirm redaction
- Confirm the output trade-off: pages become pictures without the original selectable text or interactive objects.
- Save an edited copy. Its digital signature will no longer be valid.
- Shown for signed PDFs. Saving changes invalidates the original digital signature; keep the signed source separately.
- Process all files
- Choose multiple inputs for redact pdf. This runs the settings above separately for each file, shows individual results and failures, and offers Cancel file, Cancel all files and Download batch as ZIP. Check that page positions or form fields suit every input.
Limits and supported files
PDF documents. An opening password is required when the file needs one to be read.
Local tests used synthetic 10, 50, 100 and 200 MB PDFs containing large images. Chromium, Firefox and WebKit: completed 10, 50, 100, 200 MB.
Chromium: completed 50, 300 text pages; 1000 text pages did not complete. Firefox: completed 50 text pages; 300, 1000 text pages did not complete. WebKit: completed 50 text pages; 300, 1000 text pages did not complete.
Redact PDF was tested on a 16 GB Mac with Chromium, Firefox and WebKit. “Did not complete” includes input limits, errors and test timeouts; try a smaller selection. These are observed examples, not guaranteed limits on your device. WebKit tests do not replace a check in Safari on your own device. The 90-second test window is not a hard limit; some jobs may need longer.
Up to 100 input files and 512 MB total; up to 200 output files or 512 MB. ZIPs over 128 MB need Chrome/Edge direct disk saving; use individual downloads in other browsers. The Workflow stress test completed 100 synthetic files in all three engines; this does not guarantee the same capacity for every conversion.
Questions
Why does the result lose selectable text?
Each page becomes a new picture with the marked pixels covered. Original text layers, interactive fields and links are not copied. This also means file size can increase and accessibility features are not retained.
Will it automatically find every confidential detail?
No. Search suggestions can help, but you must review all pages and mark everything that should be removed. Unmarked visible information remains readable, including through OCR.
How do I choose information to redact?
Draw and review rectangles over information that must not survive in the new copy.
Can I search for text that needs redacting?
Search selectable text to suggest areas to cover; scans may not have searchable text and every suggestion needs review.
Your files are processed on your device. Verify it yourself. Read our privacy policy for details about website analytics and saved settings.