Redact PDF
Cover up anything you need to remove - names, account numbers, whole paragraphs - and Pilcrow permanently deletes it from the file, rather than just hiding it behind a box. Everything happens in your browser.
How to redact a PDF
- Add a PDF using the box above.
- Drag boxes over the text or images you want to remove; add as many as you like across pages.
- Click Redact & Download to save a PDF with that content permanently gone.
Frequently asked questions
Is the redacted content really gone, or just hidden?
Really gone. A page you redact is flattened to an image with the black boxes burned into the pixels, so there is no hidden text or data underneath to select, copy or recover.
Why does a redacted page look like an image afterwards?
To guarantee removal. Simply drawing a black box would leave the original text in the file, where it can be copied; rasterising the page is the reliable way to make the covered content unrecoverable. Pages you don't redact keep their selectable text.
Can someone recover what I redacted?
No. The underlying text and images are discarded when the page is rebuilt as an image, so there's nothing left in the file to extract.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Redaction happens entirely in your browser and your PDF never leaves your device.