Drop your PDF
Any PDF document.
Redact a PDF
Drop a PDF, move to the page that needs it, and drag boxes over anything to hide. Applying turns those pages into images with the black boxes truly part of the picture, not a removable layer.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Runs in your browser
100% private — your PDF never leaves your browser.
Next step
Keep going with your result in another tool. Nothing is uploaded.
How it works
Draw boxes on each page that needs it
Move between pages; boxes are kept per page.
Apply and download
Redacted pages become images; the rest stay as they were.
A black box in a PDF is not always what it looks like
Drawing a black rectangle over text in a PDF editor often just places a shape on top of the content, an annotation or an object in a separate layer. The text underneath is still there in the file, selectable, copyable, sometimes visible again if the shape is moved or the file is opened in a different program. For a document you are about to hand to someone else, that is a real risk. This tool avoids it by turning the redacted page into a flat image, with the black box baked into the pixels themselves.
How it works
Browse to any page and drag rectangles over the parts you want hidden; each page keeps its own set of boxes as you move through the document. When you apply, every page that has boxes drawn on it is rendered as a high-resolution image with those boxes filled in directly on that image, and used as the replacement for the original page. Pages you didn't mark are copied over exactly as they were, keeping their original text and quality.
Why this is genuinely irreversible
Once a page becomes an image with the box already part of it, there is no separate object to move, delete or make transparent to reveal what was underneath, because what was underneath was never included in the image in the first place. The original text on a redacted page is not just hidden, it is not present in the output file at all.
What changes on a redacted page
A page you draw a box on stops having selectable, searchable text, since it becomes a picture, the same trade-off as scanning a page. Pages with no boxes are untouched and keep their original text. Keep this in mind if the rest of the document needs to stay searchable.
Privacy
Your PDF is loaded, edited and redacted entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded at any point, which matters given the sensitive content this tool is usually used to hide.
Frequently asked questions
How do I permanently black out part of a PDF?
Drop the PDF, go to the page, drag a box over the area, and press apply. That page becomes an image with the box burned into it.
Is the redacted text really gone, or just covered?
Really gone from the redacted page. That page is rebuilt as an image containing only what should remain visible, with no hidden text underneath.
Can I redact several pages in one document?
Yes, move between pages with the navigation buttons and draw boxes on each one that needs it.
Does redacting a page make it lose its text?
Yes, a redacted page becomes an image and loses selectable text. Pages without any redaction keep their original text untouched.
Can I undo a box before applying?
Yes, undo removes the last box on the current page, and clear this page removes all boxes on it. Once you apply, the change is permanent in the downloaded file.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. Everything happens entirely in your browser.
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