Redact PDF

Redact a PDF by drawing boxes over sensitive areas; the selected pages are flattened so the hidden text can't be recovered. Runs entirely in your browser — no uploads.

How to use Redact PDF: Open Redact PDF — no sign-up or software download is required. Drag and drop your file(s) into the tool, or click to browse and select them from your device. Choose any options you need, such as order, quality, page range or output format. Everything runs inside your browser, so your data never leaves your device.

Select a PDF to redact

Processed locally in your browser — never uploaded.

Redact a PDF by drawing boxes over sensitive areas; the selected pages are flattened so the hidden text can't be recovered. Runs entirely in your browser — no uploads. Redact PDF is a free, browser-based tool in the Filevane pdf tools collection — there is nothing to install, no account to create and no watermark on your results. It works on desktop, tablet and mobile, and because the work happens on your own device it stays fast even with large inputs.

How to use Redact PDF

Open Redact PDF — no sign-up or software download is required.
Drag and drop your file(s) into the tool, or click to browse and select them from your device.
Choose any options you need, such as order, quality, page range or output format.
Click the action button and let the tool process everything locally in your browser.
Download the finished file. Your originals are never changed or uploaded.

Why use Redact PDF?

100% free with no limits, no sign-up and no watermarks.
Private by design — your files are processed in your browser and never uploaded to a server.
Fast and lightweight, with instant results even on a phone or a slow connection.
Works everywhere — any modern browser on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android or iOS.
Part of a full pdf tools suite, so related redact pdf tasks are one click away.

What people use Redact PDF for

Removing names, addresses or account numbers before disclosing a document.
Blacking out commercially sensitive figures in a contract being shared with a third party.
Preparing a document for a freedom-of-information or court disclosure.

Redact PDF: limits and things worth knowing

Real redaction removes the underlying content, it does not merely cover it. Drawing a black rectangle in an editor leaves the text intact underneath, where it can be selected, copied or extracted — this has caused a long series of public disclosure failures.
Check the result by trying to select text in the redacted area. If anything highlights, the content is still there.
Redaction cannot remove information from metadata, attachments or the document's edit history. Run PDF Information afterwards and strip metadata separately.
A scanned page has no text layer, so redacting the image is sufficient — but if the file has been OCR'd, the recognised text layer must be redacted as well.

Is it private and secure?

Your privacy is built in. Redact PDF does all processing on your own device using client-side code, so your files are never transmitted, stored or seen by anyone — including us.

Network activity: none. Nothing is sent and nothing is fetched. This tool makes no network request at all once the page has loaded — which is why it keeps working if your connection drops.

You do not have to take that on trust — our privacy proof page publishes the Content-Security-Policy that enforces it, lists every third party it permits, and shows how to verify the whole claim yourself.

We also measured the competition. Our PDF upload audit recorded how many bytes each of 20 online PDF tools actually transmits: 12 of the 13 measurable services uploaded the whole test file, and Filevane transmitted 0.00 MB.

Learn more

Why Browser-Based Tools Are Safer for Your Files — Most online converters upload your files to a server. Client-side tools don't. Here's why that difference matters for privacy.

See all free pdf tools or browse the full tool catalogue.