Redact a PDF and remove text for good
Draw boxes or search for names, numbers and emails. The marked content is permanently removed from the file, not just covered.
- Processed on your device, never uploaded
- Free, no sign-up, no watermark
Done
This PDF is protected. Enter its password to open it.
About Redact PDF
This tool removes text and areas from a PDF for good, rather than just covering them. You can drag boxes over anything on a page, or search for a name, number or email and mark every match across all pages. It is a free way to redact PDF online, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Redacted pages are rebuilt from pixels with black boxes burned in, so the hidden text can't be copied, searched or recovered. Pages without redactions are copied unchanged and keep their selectable text. The new PDF also has no metadata, outlines or attachments from the original.
It suits anyone sharing documents with private details. For example, an HR officer can search a staff member's ID number, mark every match, and share a clean copy of a disciplinary report. Scanned PDFs work too, but you need to draw the boxes by hand. Redaction happens in your browser, and the file is never uploaded.
How to use Redact PDF
- Drop your PDF on the page, or click Choose file.
- Mark what to hide: drag on the page to draw a box, or use Find and mark text and press Mark all.
- Use Prev and Next to check every page. Use Clear this page or Clear all to remove boxes you don't need.
- Choose a quality for redacted pages: Smaller, Standard or Print.
- Click Redact and save, then download the new PDF.
Really removed
Redacted pages are rebuilt from pixels, so the hidden text can’t be copied, searched or recovered.
Search and redact
Find a name, account number or email on every page and mark all matches at once.
Private by design
Redaction happens in your browser; your PDF is never uploaded.
Clean file
The new PDF has no metadata, outlines or attachments from the original.
Example
Input: a 6-page incident-report.pdf with a staff ID on several pages.
You search the ID, click Mark all, and draw one extra box over a signature.
You click Redact and save.
Result: a new PDF where the ID and signature are gone for good.
Redact PDF: questions people ask
Is redacted text really gone?
Yes. Redacted pages become images with black boxes burned in, so the text underneath isn't in the file.
Do other pages change?
No. Pages without redactions are copied unchanged and keep selectable text. Redacted pages lose selectable text.
Can I redact a scanned PDF?
Yes, by drawing boxes by hand. Search only finds real text, so it can't find words inside a scan.
Is my file uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser.
Guides on this topic
All posts →
Edit PDF Online Free, in the Same Font: Meet Omebly's PDF Editor
Omebly's new PDF editor lets you click any word and change it in the same font, size and colour, free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no upload.
Introducing Omebly Explorer: A Free, Open-Source File Manager for Windows 11 and 10
Omebly Explorer is our free, open-source file manager for Windows. It does everything File Explorer does, then adds tabs, a viewer for every file, 51 PDF tools on the right-click menu, archives, a copy engine up to 18x faster, folder colours, tags and power tools, with nothing ever leaving your PC.