Is the text really gone?

Yes. Redacted pages are converted to images with the boxed areas blanked, and the page’s text layer is removed. You can verify by trying to select or search the text afterwards.

Does redaction remove metadata?

Document metadata (author, title) is cleared on save. Attachments and hidden layers are also dropped.

Will unredacted pages stay searchable?

Yes. Only pages with at least one redaction box are rasterised.

PDF Tools

Redact PDF

Name: Redact PDF
Author: Miikka

Draw boxes over names, account numbers or photos. When you save, the page is re-rendered with the covered content removed from the file — not merely covered.

By Miikka · CalcBrew · Updated Sep 24, 2026

Runs in your browser — files never leave your device.

Drop PDF file here

or click to browse · paste from clipboard · up to 100 MB

Select file

Options

Quality of redacted pages

About Redact PDF

Drawing a black rectangle in a normal editor leaves the original text underneath, and it can be copied out or found by search — a mistake that has exposed court filings and medical records. Redaction has to delete the data.

This tool rasterises redacted pages to images and strips their text layer, so nothing under the box remains. Unredacted pages keep their text as usual.

How to redact PDF

Drop PDF file onto the box above, click it to browse, or paste from the clipboard.
Adjust the options if you need to — the defaults suit most cases.
Press Convert. The work happens on your device, so speed depends on your computer or phone.
Download the result.

About the format

PDF · Portable Document Format · .pdf

The fixed-layout document standard: looks the same on every device and printer, which is why forms, invoices, contracts and reports are shared as PDF.

A PDF can contain vector text, embedded fonts, images, form fields, annotations and digital signatures.
Scanned PDFs are just pictures of pages; they need OCR before the text can be searched or copied.
PDF is an open ISO standard (ISO 32000) since 2008.

Related conversions

Crop PDFOn-deviceTrim margins or keep only part of each page.Flatten PDFOn-deviceLock filled forms and annotations into the page.Protect PDFOn-deviceEncrypt a PDF with a password (AES-256).Merge PDFPopularOn-deviceCombine several PDFs into one, in the order you choose.Split PDFPopularOn-deviceCut a PDF into separate pages or page ranges.Rotate PDFOn-deviceTurn pages the right way up and save the PDF.

Frequently asked questions

Cite this calculator

APACalcBrew. (2026). Redact PDF. https://calcbrew.com/redact-pdf

MLA“Redact PDF.” CalcBrew, 2026, calcbrew.com/redact-pdf.

Link to https://calcbrew.com/redact-pdf. Results are estimates; cite the underlying formula or data source for academic work.