Free Redact PDF: Black Out Text for Good, Not Just Cover It
Black out names, numbers, emails and signatures in a PDF so they are removed from the file, not just hidden under a box.
Drag on a page to draw a box over anything else, such as a signature or a photo. Click a box to remove it. Check every page before saving: search finds text the PDF stores as text, not words inside pictures or scans.
Everything you already do here stays free.
Your redacted PDF
Redacting here removes for good: every page is saved again as a picture with the black boxes painted in, so the hidden words are not in the file at all, and the file's title and author are left empty. The text of the saved PDF cannot be selected or searched.
Free, no sign-up and no watermark. The PDF stays on your device: nothing is uploaded.
Recent results on this device
Saved in this browser only, never uploaded. Kept for 7 days, up to 500 MB, oldest first out.
Nothing saved yet. Results you make in any tool show up here.
Avalon Pro keeps your recent results on this device for 7 days, so you can download them again from any tool, and carries a whole batch to the next tool. See Avalon Pro
What this tool does
To redact a PDF for free, drop it above, mark what must go, and press Redact and save: the marked areas are blacked out and removed from the file, with no sign-up and no watermark. Use it before you share bank statements, contracts, medical letters, invoices or anything else with names, account numbers, addresses or signatures that the other side should not see.
How to use it
- Drop a PDF into the box above, or click it to choose it. Every page appears below.
- To mark words, type them under Find words to black out, or tick Email addresses or Numbers, then press Mark everything found.
- To mark anything else, such as a signature, a photo or a word inside a scan, drag a box over it on the page.
- Click a box to remove it if it is not needed. Check every page.
- Press Redact and save, then Download.
Covering versus redacting
| Black box drawn in a PDF editor | This tool | |
|---|---|---|
| What you see | A black box | A black box |
| Hidden text still in the file | Yes, it can be copied out | No, it is gone |
| Can someone remove the box? | Often, in any PDF editor | No, it is part of the page picture |
| Text of the rest of the page | Still selectable | Not selectable (pages become pictures) |
Tips
- Redact the final version. Once the pages are pictures, edits to the text are no longer possible.
- The saved file can be larger than the original. Choose Standard quality, or shrink it afterwards with our free compress PDF tool.
- Only need to drop whole pages? Our free delete PDF pages tool is quicker and keeps the text.
Free, Pro and Pro+
| Free | Pro | Pro+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDF size | 100 MB | 300 MB | 300 MB |
| Pages per PDF | 50 | 500 | 500 |
| Result quality | The same on every plan | ||
| Server tools paid with credits | With a credit pack | With a credit pack | 300 credits every month |
Pro+ credits pay for server tools: higher-accuracy speech to text, higher-accuracy auto subtitles, fast server voices and ai pdf summaries, answers and translation. A credit pack (150 credits, valid for 12 months) works on any plan. Compare plans.
Frequently asked questions
How do I redact a PDF for free?
Drop the PDF above, type the words to remove or tick Email addresses or Numbers and press Mark everything found, draw boxes over anything else, check every page, then press Redact and save. You get a new PDF with those areas blacked out, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Is the text really removed, or just covered?
Really removed. A black shape drawn over text only covers it, and the text can still be copied out from underneath. Here every page is saved again as a picture with the black boxes painted in, so the hidden words are not in the new file at all. Before the file is offered, the tool opens it again and checks that it holds no text.
Can I still select or search the text in the redacted PDF?
No, because the pages are saved as pictures. That is what makes the removal permanent. If you need searchable text afterwards, keep a private unredacted copy for yourself and share only the redacted one.
Does search find every place a word appears?
It finds words the PDF stores as text. It cannot read words inside photos or scanned pages, and a word split across two lines may be missed. Look through every page before saving and draw boxes over anything search did not mark.
What else is removed?
Everything except what you see on the pages: form fields, comments, links, attachments, bookmarks and hidden layers do not reach the new file, and its title and author are left empty.
Are my PDFs uploaded anywhere?
No. The pages are drawn, blacked out and saved inside your browser, on your own device. Nothing is sent to our servers, which matters for documents private enough to redact.
Are there limits?
The free version redacts PDFs of up to 50 pages and 100 MB. Avalon Pro takes up to 500 pages and 300 MB, with exactly the same result.