PDF tools for legal and HR work

Contracts, offer letters, ID copies and personnel files can be merged, redacted, password-protected and cleaned of hidden data on PDFReadyGo without being uploaded. The tools run in your browser, so the documents stay on your computer or phone. Below is how to check that, which tool fits which task, and the limits to know before you rely on it.

How the tools handle your documents

Most free PDF websites send your file to a server, change it there and send it back. PDFReadyGo loads its tool code into the page instead. Your document is read from your device, changed in memory and saved back as a download. There is no account, no upload and no copy on our side.

The page does make other network requests: it loads code and fonts from this site, and the ads and Cloudflare analytics make small requests. They don’t receive your document. The privacy policy describes each one.

Verify it before you trust it

Two checks take a couple of minutes and work with a test file:

1. Open the tool while online and wait a few seconds so the page saves itself for offline use.
2. Turn on airplane mode, or disconnect from Wi-Fi.
3. Choose a file and run the tool. If you get a result, it was made on your device.

Then open Prove it’s private under the tool. It lists the requests made after you chose a file, how many went to pdfreadygo.com and how many to ad and analytics services, and the most data sent in one request. Requests that sent a file or binary data should read 0. If your IT team wants a closer look, the Network tab in the browser’s developer tools shows the same requests.

Which tool fits which task

• Share a document with personal details removed: Redact PDF. Type a Social Security number, salary figure or name in Find text to redact and select Find and mark, or drag boxes over anything else. The tool then reopens the new file and checks that the words you searched for are gone.
• Send a draft without the author’s name or comments: Remove hidden data. It finds document properties, XMP metadata, comments with reviewer names, attached files, hidden layers and earlier saved versions, then removes what you tick.
• Put an offer letter, policy acknowledgment and ID copies in one file: Merge PDF. It accepts PDF, JPG, PNG and WebP, so a photo of an ID card can go in the same file.
• Lock filled-in answers so they can’t be edited by accident: Flatten PDF.
• Mark copies: Watermark PDF for a word such as CONFIDENTIAL or DRAFT, and Add page numbers for a numbered exhibit.
• Email a file that needs a password: Protect PDF uses AES-256. Send the password by a different route, such as a phone call.
• Turn paper into a searchable PDF: Scan to PDF with Make text searchable (OCR), or Make PDF searchable for an existing scan.
• Fill in an HR form: Fill & Sign PDF, with step-by-step guides for Form I-9, Form W-4 and Form W-9.

Check your workplace rules first

Follow your employer’s or firm’s policies. Many organizations decide which tools and devices may handle client or employee records, and how long those records are kept. A tool that doesn’t upload files still has to fit those rules, and some workplaces require a tool their IT team has approved.

PDFReadyGo doesn’t make a document compliant with any privacy or employment law and doesn’t hold any certification. Nothing on this page is legal advice. A signature added with Fill & Sign is a picture of a signature, not a certified digital signature, and redaction rules for court filings vary, so check what the court or the other party requires.

Limits to know

• Redacted pages become images, so their text can’t be selected or read aloud by a screen reader. Pages without boxes keep their text.
• Find and mark only finds words stored as text, not words inside a scanned image. Check every page before you share.
• Any change to a digitally signed PDF makes the signature invalid. Keep the signed original and share an edited copy only if that’s acceptable.
• Unlock PDF removes a password you know. It can’t find or guess a forgotten one.
• Files can be up to 30 MB each for most tools.

Related tools and guides

• PDF tools for healthcare workers: the same checks, with examples from clinical paperwork.
• How to merge PDFs without uploading them
• How to combine a PDF and a JPG into one PDF
• FAQ and how privacy works