Redact Sensitive Information in PDF
Permanently black out names, account numbers, and confidential text in your PDF. Content is truly removed — not just hidden. Free, fast, browser-based.
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Redacting a PDF is the irreversible removal of sensitive content — names, social security numbers, account numbers, addresses, medical details, trade secrets, or any other text or imagery you don't want a recipient to see. The critical word is "irreversible": real redaction destroys the underlying content, not just hides it under a black box. People have been fired, sued, and prosecuted because someone published a "redacted" PDF where the redaction was just a black highlight that recipients could copy out from underneath. Dokfo's free PDF redaction tool does it properly. When you mark text or an area for redaction, Dokfo physically removes that content from the PDF's underlying stream and replaces it with a solid black rectangle. The result: the redacted area cannot be selected, copied, searched, or recovered by any tool — it's gone. This is essential for legal filings (court redactions of witness names), FOIA responses (government redactions of classified info), HR documents (employee data shared internally), medical records (PHI removed before research use), and any other workflow where the difference between "hidden" and "removed" matters legally.
How to Redact a PDF — Step by Step
1
Upload your PDF by clicking the upload area or dragging the file. Dokfo loads it locally and renders an interactive page preview.
2
Click and drag to draw redaction rectangles over text or areas you want to black out. Repeat for every sensitive item. Use the page navigation to redact across multiple pages.
3
Click "Redact" to apply. The underlying content is physically deleted, replaced with solid black rectangles. Download the redacted PDF — what's gone is truly gone.
Why Redact PDFs With Dokfo?
True Permanent Redaction
Redaction physically removes the underlying content — text and images are deleted from the PDF stream, not just hidden under a black box. Cannot be recovered by any tool.
Click-to-Redact Interface
Draw rectangles directly on the page preview to mark areas for redaction. Visual, fast, and precise — no need to search-and-replace text.
Multi-Page Support
Navigate between pages and redact items on every one. All redactions across all pages are applied in a single operation when you click apply.
Browser-Based Privacy
Redaction runs locally with pdf-lib. Your sensitive document never leaves your device — essential when redacting confidential, regulated, or legally protected content.
When to Redact a PDF
- Black out witness names, addresses, or identifying details in court filings, legal pleadings, or evidence before public submission.
- Remove personally identifiable information (PII) from documents before sending to vendors, partners, or in FOIA responses.
- Strip patient names, dates of birth, and medical record numbers from clinical documents before research or publication.
- Redact account numbers, balances, and identifiers from financial statements before sharing for analysis or audit.
- Remove confidential trade secrets, pricing, or strategy from documents before sharing with external counsel or consultants.
Sensitive Documents Stay on Your Device
Dokfo's redaction tool runs 100% client-side using pdf-lib. Your sensitive PDF is read into browser memory, redaction operations physically remove the underlying content, and the redacted file is saved back to disk — without any server round-trip. This privacy guarantee is critical when redacting legally protected content (PII, PHI, classified info, attorney-client privileged material). Verify in Developer Tools → Network tab: zero PDF data transmitted.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Redaction
What does PDF redaction do?
Redaction permanently removes sensitive content from a PDF by physically deleting the underlying text or imagery and replacing it with a solid black rectangle. Unlike highlighting or covering with a black box, real redaction makes the content unrecoverable.
Is redacted content truly removed?
Yes. Dokfo's redaction physically deletes the underlying content from the PDF stream, not just hides it visually. The redacted area cannot be selected, copied, searched, OCR'd, or recovered by any PDF tool. The content is gone.
Can I redact text by selection or only by drawing rectangles?
Currently Dokfo's redaction works by drawing rectangles over the area to redact. Select text-style redaction (click on a word to redact it) is on our roadmap.
Will the redacted PDF still look like the original?
Yes — except for the redacted areas, which appear as solid black rectangles. All other content (text, images, layout, formatting) is preserved exactly.
Are my files uploaded to your servers?
No. The entire redaction process happens in your browser using pdf-lib. Your sensitive PDF never leaves your device — critical when handling PII, PHI, or legally protected information.
Can I redact metadata like document author or title?
Page content redaction is the focus of this tool. To strip metadata (author, title, creation date), use a separate metadata-stripping tool or a PDF editor that exposes the document properties.
What's the difference between redact and watermark?
Watermark adds a visual overlay that doesn't remove anything underneath. Redact physically deletes the underlying content. Use watermark for visible markers ("DRAFT", logo). Use redact when content must truly be unrecoverable.
Will the redacted PDF have a watermark?
Never. Dokfo never adds watermarks to redacted PDFs.