PDF Redaction Features
Redact a PDF for Free
redact PDFs. text-based PDFs. manual redaction boxes.
Everything you need to redact PDFs online
RedactionPDF is built for privacy-conscious document workflows. It lets you highlight visible content, check auto-detected sensitive data, strip hidden metadata, and download a clean redacted PDF — all online, no desktop software needed.
Manual PDF Redaction
Draw redaction boxes over names, signatures, addresses, account numbers, confidential clauses, images, or any visible area you want removed from your PDF.
Auto Detection with Review
Detects common sensitive patterns in text-based PDFs — you then choose which suggestions to turn into redaction boxes before finalising changes.
Metadata Cleanup
Strips hidden PDF metadata like author, creator, subject, keywords, timestamps, and custom fields during the export process.
File Auto-Deletion
Original PDFs are deleted right after processing. Your redacted PDF stays available for up to 1 hour.
Redaction Summary
View a processing summary showing redaction count, metadata cleanup status, timestamps, and temporary file handling — so you know exactly what happened.
No AI Training
Your uploaded documents are never used to train AI models or manually reviewed as part of standard processing.
Manual PDF redaction for precise control
Manual redaction gives you direct control over what gets removed. You can draw boxes over any visible area of a PDF page, including text, signatures, images, tables, notes, and confidential sections.
Use manual redaction to remove names, addresses, signatures, account numbers, confidential contract clauses, payment details, images, notes, annotations, or any visible area on the page.
Review-first auto detection for text-based PDFs
For text-based PDFs, RedactionPDF can flag common sensitive data patterns so you don't have to hunt for every item yourself. Suggestions are never auto-applied — you stay in control and decide what gets redacted.
Detectable patterns in text-based PDFs:
Remove hidden PDF metadata before sharing
PDF files can contain hidden metadata that is not visible on the page. This may include author names, creator software, producer details, timestamps, subjects, keywords, and custom metadata fields.
RedactionPDF can clean standard PDF metadata during export, helping you reduce hidden document information before sharing a file.
Temporary file handling and auto-deletion
Original PDFs are deleted after processing. Redacted PDFs stay available for up to 1 hour.
Redaction summary for better review
Once processing is done, RedactionPDF shows a clear summary of the redaction workflow. Use it to verify the number of redactions applied, confirm metadata cleanup, and check when the file was handled.
No AI training on your documents
RedactionPDF does not use your uploaded documents to train AI models. Sensitive data detection finds common patterns in text-based PDFs — it is designed for privacy, not model training.
Manual redaction vs auto detection
| Feature | Manual Redaction | Auto Detection |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Any visible area | Common text patterns |
| Works on scanned PDFs | Yes, for visible areas | Not available for image-only text |
| User control | Full manual control | Review suggestions before applying |
| Examples | Signatures, images, clauses, custom areas | Emails, phones, SSNs, account numbers |
| Recommended use | Precise final review | Quick initial scan |
Clear boundaries, no exaggerated claims
RedactionPDF helps with privacy-sensitive PDF redaction workflows, but it is not a legal compliance certification service.
RedactionPDF does not claim:
Try RedactionPDF features on your own PDF
Upload a PDF, check sensitive data suggestions, add manual redaction boxes, clean metadata, and download your redacted document.
Redact a PDF for Free
redact PDFs. text-based PDFs. manual redaction boxes.
Free redaction: up to 10MB and 10 pages. Daily limit: 3 jobs.
Original PDFs are deleted after processing. Redacted PDFs stay available for up to 1 hour.
Related Guides
Upload and redact your PDF
Step-by-step workflow guide
Why visual black boxes fall short
Clean hidden document details
Remove account numbers and transactions
Hide names, signatures, and compensation
Remove personal data for AI tools
Temporary processing and auto-delete workflow
PDF Redaction Feature FAQ
Automatic detection works with text-based PDFs; scanned or image-only PDFs can still be marked manually.