Redact a PDF so the words are actually gone

What you get

• The text under the black is removed, not hidden
• Finds emails, phone numbers, card numbers, tax and ID numbers automatically
• Every proposed redaction is approved by you before anything is applied
• Runs in your browser — the document never leaves your device
• Free, no account, no watermark

Questions

How is this different from drawing a black box in a PDF reader?

A black box in a reader is a drawing sitting ON TOP of the text. The words are still in the file and can be selected, copied or pulled out with any extraction tool — which is how redaction failures make the news. Here, each page you redact is redrawn as a flat image with the black already burned in, so the original text is not in the saved file at all.

What happens to the pages I redact?

They become images, so text on those pages is no longer selectable or searchable. That is the trade, and it is the same trade that makes it safe — you cannot destroy the text and keep it selectable at the same time. Pages you did not touch are copied across untouched and stay fully searchable.

Does it find everything?

It finds patterns in the text the PDF already carries — it is a first pass, not a guarantee, and you should read the preview rather than trust it blindly. A scanned page with no text layer has no patterns to find; reading those needs the AI helper, which is priced in credits and says so before it runs.

Is it free?

The redaction itself is free, runs in your browser, and adds no watermark. Only the AI read of a scanned page costs credits, and only if you choose it.