Redact a PDF by drawing black boxes
Permanently remove information from a PDF, not just cover it up.
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Redaction that actually removes the content
The covered text is deleted from the file, not hidden behind a shape.
The content is removed
When the redaction is applied, what was underneath is permanently taken out of the document - it cannot be selected, copied or recovered from the file afterwards.
Choose the redaction colour
Black is conventional, but the colour of the block is yours to set so the redactions suit the document they appear in.
You see it before you commit
Mark the areas first and review them, then apply. Nothing is removed until you apply the changes.
Why drawing a black box is not redaction
The most common redaction mistake is to draw a filled rectangle over the sensitive text in an editor and save the file. The text is still in the document, sitting underneath the shape - it can be selected, copied out, or read by anything that extracts text, and this has caused real disclosures in published documents.
Applying a redaction here removes the covered content from the file rather than obscuring it. What is left is a block where the information used to be, and nothing behind it.
A box drawn on top keeps the text underneath in the file
What to redact before sharing a document
Names, addresses, account numbers, signatures, dates of birth and reference numbers are the usual candidates, and they tend to appear more often through a document than you expect - in headers, footers and page furniture as well as in the body.
Go through the whole document rather than the page you were thinking of. Redaction is worth doing carefully once, because the point of it is that it cannot be undone.
A box drawn on top keeps the text underneath in the file
Redact a PDF in the browser
Nothing is installed and no professional PDF suite is needed. Marking and applying redactions happens in a browser tab on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
Upload from your device, from a link or from cloud storage, up to 50 MB without an account.
Security you can check
A page about protecting a document has to be clear about how the document itself is protected here.
TLS with modern ciphers
The upload, the processing and the download all run over an encrypted connection, and personal data is stored encrypted.
No human access at any point
Nobody reads your file, looks into it, or makes a copy. The whole pipeline is automated and no backup of a user file is kept.
GDPR, and your rights intact
Processing follows the GDPR. You keep the copyright, and nothing is fed into AI training.
How to redact a PDF file
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Upload your PDF file to PDF2Go.
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Use the black box tool to mark areas you want to remove.
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Review your PDF changes.
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Save the new version of your PDF file.
Frequently asked questions about redacting PDFs
Is it free to redact a PDF?
Yes. Redact PDF is free and needs no account. Files up to 50 MB can be redacted without registering, and a free account or a paid plan raises that limit.
Is the redacted text really gone?
Yes. Applying the redaction removes the covered content from the document rather than hiding it, so it cannot be selected, copied or extracted from the file afterwards.
How is this different from drawing a black rectangle?
A rectangle drawn in an editor sits on top of the text, which stays in the file and can be copied out. That mistake has caused real disclosures. Redaction deletes what is underneath.
Can I undo a redaction?
Not in the redacted file - that is the point of it. Nothing is removed until you apply the changes, and your original upload is untouched, so review carefully before applying.
Can I change the colour of the redaction blocks?
Yes. Black is the convention, but the colour is a setting.
Is it safe to redact a document online?
Yes. Every transfer runs over TLS with modern ciphers and personal data is stored encrypted. Nobody reads your file or makes a copy of it, no backup of a user file is kept, and your copyright is untouched. Processing follows the GDPR.
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