What does Redact PDF do?

It permanently removes content from a PDF by rasterizing pages and painting over selected areas. The redacted text is destroyed — not hidden, not covered, gone.

Is my PDF uploaded to a server?

No. Redaction happens entirely in your browser. The file never leaves your device.

Can someone recover the redacted content?

No. Pages are converted to flat images with black rectangles burned in. The original text layer is gone. There’s nothing underneath to recover.

What’s the difference between redacting and drawing a black box?

Drawing a black box in a PDF editor covers the text visually but leaves it in the file. Anyone can remove the box and read the content. Redaction rasterizes the page, permanently destroying the text underneath.

Can I search for text to redact?

Yes. Enter a search term and the tool highlights every occurrence across all pages. Apply redactions in one pass.

Can I redact entire pages?

Yes. Switch to page selection mode and mark any pages for full-page redaction. The entire page is blacked out.

Does it work with password-protected PDFs?

Yes. Enter the password to decrypt, then redact. Everything runs locally in your browser.

涂黑遮盖 PDF

永久抹除 PDF 文档中的敏感内容。

1. Select PDF

Select a PDF file from your device. All processing happens locally in your browser.

2. Mark redactions

Draw rectangles over sensitive content or search for text to redact.

3. Download

Content is permanently destroyed via rasterization. The original text cannot be recovered.

About Redact PDF

How PDF Redaction Works

Redaction permanently removes content from a PDF. Not covers it — removes it. The tool rasterizes each page into an image, paints black rectangles over the redacted areas, then rebuilds a new PDF from those images. The original text underneath is gone. You can’t select it, search it, or recover it.

You have two modes: search for specific text across all pages, or select entire pages to black out completely. The tool finds every occurrence of your search term, highlights the matches, and lets you apply redactions in one pass.

When Redaction Is the Right Tool

Redaction isn’t about hiding content. It’s about destroying it permanently before the document leaves your hands.

Legal Discovery & FOIA

Courts and government agencies require redaction of privileged information, SSNs, and personal data before releasing documents.

Data Privacy Compliance

GDPR and CCPA require removing personal data from documents shared with third parties. Redaction makes removal permanent.

Internal Document Sharing

Share reports across departments while permanently removing sections meant only for specific teams.

Financial Disclosure

Remove account numbers, transaction details, or salary information before sharing financial documents.

How It Compares

Real redaction destroys content. Drawing a black box in a PDF editor just covers it — the text is still there. Here’s how tools compare on actual redaction.

功能特性	OxygenPDF	Adobe Acrobat	Smallpdf
Text search redaction
Full-page redaction
Content permanently destroyed
Rasterizes pages (no hidden text)
No file upload required		Desktop only
Free to use

Why a Black Box in Word or Preview Isn’t Redaction

A common mistake: open a PDF in an editor, draw a black rectangle over sensitive text, save it, and call it redacted. The text is still in the file. Anyone can remove the rectangle and read what’s underneath. This has caused real data breaches — including a famous case where a government agency “redacted” classified information that journalists trivially uncovered.

Proper redaction rasterizes the page. The text layer is replaced with a flat image. There’s nothing underneath the black box to uncover.

Your Sensitive Content Never Leaves Your Device

The documents you redact are, by definition, documents with content too sensitive to share freely. Uploading them to a server for processing is a contradiction.

OxygenPDF redacts in your browser. The original file stays on your device. The redacted output is generated locally. No file transfer, no server-side processing, no copies floating around on infrastructure you don’t control.