PDF Picasso is free from Redact a PDF properly
A black box drawn over text often leaves the text underneath, and it can be copied straight back out. Here, a page with redactions is rebuilt as a picture with the areas blacked out, so nothing under them survives.
Open the editorFree. No sign-up. Nothing is uploaded.
How to do it
- Open the PDFPress Open and pick the file.
- Mark what to removePick Redact and drag over each thing to remove. Use Find to track down every place a name or number appears.
- CheckGo through each page. Redaction boxes show on screen until you save.
- SaveSave writes a new PDF. Pages with redactions are rebuilt as pictures; other pages keep their real text.
Good to know
A redacted page becomes a picture, so its words can no longer be selected or searched. Only the pages you redact are changed this way.
Our guide to redacting a PDF properly covers the common mistakes and links to official guidance.
Questions
Can the redacted text be recovered?
Not from the saved file. The page is redrawn as a picture with the areas filled black, and the original text and drawing on that page aren’t carried over.
What about White-out?
White-out covers something in white so you can type over it. It’s for tidying a page, not for hiding information: use Redact for that.
Are my files uploaded?
No. The editor runs in your browser and opens files straight from your device. Nothing is sent to a server, so there is nothing for anyone else to see or keep.