How to redact a PDF properly

To redact a PDF properly, the hidden text has to be removed from the file, not just covered. Open Redact PDF, choose the file, mark what to hide by searching for it or drawing boxes, then select Redact PDF →. Pages with boxes are saved as images with the boxes painted in, so the covered words are no longer in the file. It is free, needs no account and runs in your browser.

Fake redaction vs real redaction

Most redaction mistakes look fine on screen. The black box is there, the page prints correctly, and the text underneath is still sitting in the file. These are the usual ways it happens:

• A black rectangle or highlight drawn on top. Many PDF editors add the box as a separate shape or comment. Anyone can select the text under it, copy it, or delete the box.
• Black text on a black background. Changing the font color or the highlight color in Word hides the words visually, but they stay in the PDF you export.
• Earlier saved versions. Some apps save changes by adding them to the end of the file. The old version, with the original text, can still be inside.
• Hidden data. Document properties, comments, attachments, form entries and hidden layers can carry the same names and numbers you blacked out on the page.

Real redaction removes the content itself. Redact PDF does this by turning each page that has a box into an image, with the black box burned into the pixels. There is no text left under the box to copy, search or uncover.

How to check whether a redaction is real

Use these quick tests on any redacted PDF before you send it, including one someone else made:

1. Open the file and try to select the text under a black box. If it highlights, the text is still there.
2. Press Ctrl+F, or Command+F on a Mac, and search for a word you blacked out. If it is found, the redaction failed.
3. Copy the whole page and paste it into a plain text editor. Look for the hidden words.
4. Check the document properties for an author or title that gives away the same information.

A redacted page made by PDFReadyGo passes the first three tests on its own: the tool searches the new file for every word you marked and tells you what it found.

Step by step: redact a PDF

The steps are the same on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android. The tool takes one PDF of up to 100 pages and 30 MB.

1. Open Redact PDF and select Choose a PDF, or drag your file onto the box. A preview of every page appears.
2. To black out a name or number everywhere, type it in Find text to redact and select Find and mark. Every match on every page gets a box, and it is not case-sensitive.
3. To black out anything else, drag on a page to draw a box. Each box gets a number, and its × button under the page removes it. On a phone, tick Draw boxes by dragging on a page first, and untick it to scroll.
4. Pick an Image quality for redacted pages. 200 DPI suits most documents, and 300 DPI keeps small print sharper.
5. If people need to search the rest of the document, tick Keep the rest of redacted pages searchable and choose the language.
6. Select Redact PDF →, read the check under Your file is ready., then select Download result ↓.

In a test with a four-page letter, searching for “maria santos” marked matches on two pages. The new file was 88.0 KB, and the check read: “Checked the new file: ‘maria santos’ is not in its text.” The two pages without boxes kept their normal, selectable text.

Scanned documents

A scan is already a picture of the page, so the box is painted straight into the pixels and the words under it are gone. If the scan has a text layer from earlier text recognition, Find and mark can use it, and that layer is removed from redacted pages. If it has no text layer, search finds nothing, so draw the boxes yourself and zoom in to check the edges.

With Keep the rest of redacted pages searchable ticked, the tool reads the finished page images after the boxes are burned in. It only sees what is still visible, so nothing under a box can come back. Text recognition works on files of up to 50 pages and takes longer.

Watch for context clues

Removing the words is only half the job. A reader can often work out what is under a box from what is around it:

• the length of the box, next to a short list of possible names
• a job title, a signature or an email address that names the same person
• a header, footer or file name that repeats what you blacked out
• an unredacted mention on another page

Box the clues too, or the whole line. After the tool runs, scroll through every page of the download before you share it.

What else is removed

Redact PDF also removes comments, form fields, attachments, bookmarks, document properties, XMP metadata, hidden layers, earlier saved versions and photo details such as GPS location from the whole file. To remove that hidden data without blacking out anything, use Remove hidden data. It shows what it finds first, and it also cleans JPG, PNG and WebP photos.

If something doesn’t work

• Find and mark finds nothing. The page is probably a scan without a text layer. Draw boxes instead.
• The file is password-protected. If you know the password, remove it first with Unlock PDF.
• The file has more than 100 pages. Split it with Split PDF, redact each part, then combine them with Merge PDF.
• The redacted file is larger. Page images take more space than text. Choose 150 DPI, or run the result through Compress PDF.
• You need what was typed in a form. Run Flatten PDF first, so the answers become part of the page.

Quick answers

Is my PDF uploaded? No. The file is read, redacted and saved in your browser on your own device. Open Prove it’s private on the tool page to watch the page’s network requests while it works, or see how privacy works.

Can redacted text be recovered? Not from the file. The redacted pages are images, and the covered words are not stored in them. Anyone who had the original file, or saw it, still knows what it said.

Does this meet my employer’s or a court’s rules? PDFReadyGo can’t tell you that. Rules for redaction differ, so check what the person asking for the document requires.

Steps tested on the tools on November 4, 2026.

Related tools

• Redact PDF: black out text so it is removed, not just covered.
• Remove hidden data: remove properties, attachments, scripts and photo GPS details.
• Protect PDF: add a password before you send the redacted copy.