PDF Tools
Redact Sensitive Information from PDF Online
Draw areas or find text, then securely flatten affected pages without uploading your document.
Covering is not redaction
A visual rectangle can leave text, images, form values, or annotations underneath. This tool renders each affected page, draws solid redactions into the pixels, and builds a new page from that flattened image. Unaffected pages remain unchanged where possible.
Search, review, and flatten
Embedded-text search maps reviewed matches to page regions. Pattern buttons suggest emails, phone-like numbers, IP addresses, and URLs; suggestions are not guarantees. Scanned pages and unusual encodings should be handled with Area Redaction. Secure Flatten removes searchable text, links, annotations, form fields, and signature objects from affected pages and may increase file size.
Privacy and verification
The active workflow stays in your browser: document bytes, filenames, passwords, search phrases, and extracted text are not sent to FiloTool. Export verifies the PDF signature and page count. You should still visually inspect the download and test it with PDF to Text before sharing.
Frequently asked questions
How do I permanently redact a PDF?
Upload the PDF, draw areas or review text-search matches, and export with Secure Flatten. Every affected page is rendered as an image with solid redactions baked into it, while unaffected pages are preserved.
Is drawing a black box enough?
No. A removable rectangle can leave the original content selectable or extractable. FiloTool rasterises affected pages and draws the redaction into the resulting page image.
Can hidden text remain under a rectangle?
The flattened affected page contains no original selectable text layer, form values, or removable redaction annotations. Always review the output; this is not a claim against advanced forensic recovery from the original file or device.
Can I search and redact every occurrence of a name?
Yes. Exact text search supports case sensitivity and whole-word matching. Each result is selected for review before it becomes a redaction.
Can I redact scanned PDFs?
Yes, with Area Redaction. Embedded-text search cannot find words that exist only as pixels. OCR-coordinate search is not exposed until reliable shared bounding-box mapping is available.
Can OCR detect sensitive text?
OCR can make suggestions but may miss text or produce false positives. This version deliberately recommends Area Redaction for scans rather than presenting unreliable OCR coordinates.
Can I redact images, signatures, barcodes, or faces?
Yes. Area Redaction covers any visible content because the affected page is flattened into a new image.
Does redaction remove searchable text?
Affected pages lose selectable and searchable text because they are converted to images. Unaffected pages retain their original text and vector content.
What is Secure Flatten?
Secure Flatten renders each affected page, applies every solid redaction, and inserts the result as a new page image. This makes removing an overlay impractical but may remove links and increase file size.
Will redaction affect PDF quality?
Only affected pages are rasterised. Standard quality balances size and readability; High quality improves small text and print output at a larger file size.
Does redaction invalidate digital signatures?
Yes. Editing, flattening, or redacting a signed PDF invalidates its existing digital signatures.
Can I redact password-protected PDFs?
Not directly in this version. Unlock the PDF first using the existing Unlock PDF tool, then redact the unlocked copy. Passwords are never requested or transmitted here.
Are my PDFs uploaded?
No. Loading, searching, rendering, redaction, export, and basic verification all run locally in your browser.
Can I remove PDF metadata?
Yes. Enable Remove document metadata during export. Metadata removal is separate from visible page redaction.
How do I verify a redacted PDF?
Open the downloaded file, try selecting and copying the covered content, and run PDF-to-text extraction. Also inspect every affected page visually before sharing.