Redact PDF Online: Permanently Remove Text
Redact a PDF in your browser and actually remove the text, not just cover it. Verify the result before you download.
Your file never leaves your browserHow it works
Open your PDF
Your file loads and renders directly in the browser. Nothing is uploaded: every step, from marking to the final rewrite, happens on your device.
Mark what to redact
Search for a term to find every occurrence and confirm each match, use the SSN, email, and phone presets, or draw boxes over anything visible, including signatures and scanned content.
Verify and download
Before you download, the tool re-reads the finished file and confirms, on screen, 0 occurrences of every redacted term. You see the check pass, then save the PDF.
Your data stays on your device
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your file is never uploaded to a server, never stored, and never seen by us or anyone else. Close the tab and nothing is left behind.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this actually remove the text, or just cover it with a black box?
- It removes the text. The characters you redact are deleted from the file's content, so they cannot be selected, copied, or extracted afterward. A black box is drawn where the text was, but it is covering nothing: the content underneath is gone.
- How can I be sure the redaction worked?
- Before you download, the tool verifies the finished file: it extracts all remaining text from the output and confirms 0 occurrences of every term you redacted, on screen, so you see the result yourself. If a term is somehow still extractable on a page, that page is converted to an image instead, like a scan, and the tool tells you which pages and why.
- Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
- No. The file is opened, redacted, verified, and rebuilt entirely in your browser, on your device. Nothing is sent to a server at any point, so it also works for documents you would not be allowed to upload anywhere.
- Why is drawing a black rectangle in a PDF editor not real redaction?
- A rectangle drawn in most PDF editors is a shape placed on top of the page. The text underneath is still in the file: anyone can select it, copy it, or extract it with standard tools, and sensitive documents have leaked exactly this way. Real redaction removes the text from the file itself, which is what this tool does.
- Can I redact a scanned PDF?
- Yes, with drawn boxes: the image pixels under a box are truly scrubbed from the page, not just covered. Term search needs a text layer to work with, so it cannot find words in a scan that has no embedded text. The tool does not perform OCR.
- What happens to metadata, comments, and form fields?
- They are always removed. Every redacted PDF has its document metadata (author, title, XMP) stripped, all annotations and form fields deleted, since hidden text often lives there, and any embedded attachments removed. This happens whether or not those parts contained a redacted term.
- Will the redacted PDF still have selectable text?
- Yes, for everything you did not redact: untouched text stays selectable and searchable. The exception is a page where true removal is not technically possible for that page's structure, or where verification finds a redacted term still extractable. That page is converted to an image, like a scan, so it has no selectable text, and the tool tells you which pages and why. The output never contains a confirmed redacted term.
- Is this really free, and what does Pro add?
- The free tier covers 2 PDFs per month, up to 5 pages each, with a small "Redacted with ressatools.com" line in the footer of output pages. No account is required, and the limits are shown before you start. Redact PDF Pro is $7.99 per month: unlimited PDFs, unlimited pages, no footer line, cancel anytime. Pricing is per tool, so this plan covers Redact PDF only.
- Can I use the redacted file for court filings or records requests?
- The tool removes the redacted text from the file, strips metadata, annotations, and form fields, and lets you verify the output before you download it. Whether that satisfies a specific court, agency, or regulation depends on the rules that apply to you, so check your jurisdiction's requirements before filing. This describes what the tool does; it is not legal advice.
- Does it work on mobile?
- Yes. Search, presets, drawn boxes, and the verification step run in any modern browser on phones, tablets, and desktops. Because processing happens on your device, large files are the practical limit: a warning appears above 25 MB and the hard cap is 100 MB for everyone, and a big PDF will simply be slower on a phone.