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Redact PDF

Black out the part nobody should see.

Drop your PDF. Drag a black box over the name, the account number, the salary. Download a version that's truly redacted — the data is gone, not just hidden.

Start here

Upload your file to start

Supported formats: PDF input with sanitized PDF output.

PDFSingle file

Upload a PDF to redact

Drag and drop or click to browse. Pdf Clarity opens the editor in a redaction-first workflow.

Drop files anywhere inside this panel.Processed locally — we never keep it.
Processed locallyFiles stay on this deviceNo account wallTrust details

What happens next

Your file opens in the matching tool so you can edit, convert, or export it without uploading it a second time.

  • No signup
  • No watermarks
  • Files deleted after 1 hour

Encrypted upload. Deleted in an hour. Never shared. Never trained on. Ever.

ISO/IEC 27001 (in progress)
GDPR compliant
TLS 1.3
Files deleted after 1 hour
No signup required

How to redact a PDF, end to end.

Four clicks from a dropzone on this page to a sanitized PDF in your Downloads folder. The text underneath the black box is gone, not hidden.

  1. Drop your PDF on this page.

    Drag it from your desktop or click to browse. It uploads encrypted. We can't see it.

  2. Drag a black box over what should disappear.

    Cover the name, the number, the paragraph. Stack as many redaction marks as you need, across as many pages as you need.

  3. Review, then apply.

    Walk through every mark before you commit. When you hit apply, we rewrite the PDF so the text under the box is actually deleted — not just covered.

  4. Download. We forget.

    Your redacted PDF lands in Downloads. Copy-paste across the black box returns nothing. Our copy of the original is deleted within the hour.

What you can actually do on this page.

Five honest redact moves you can finish in the browser you're already in. No Adobe, no signup, no black rectangles hiding text that's still there.

  • True data removal, not cover-up.

    When you apply a redaction, we rewrite the PDF so the text underneath the black box is deleted from the file. Copy-paste returns nothing. Ctrl+F finds nothing. The data is gone.

  • Drag a black box over anything.

    Click and drag on the page preview to mark anything you want gone — a name, an account number, a whole paragraph, a signature block. Stack as many marks as you need.

  • Search and redact repeated terms.

    Type a name, a client ID, or any string and we mark every instance across every page in one pass. Works on native-text PDFs — no more hunting page by page.

  • Review before you apply.

    Your redaction marks stay as editable drafts until you commit. Walk through every one, move or delete anything you got wrong, and only then hit apply. The apply step is irreversible — we want you sure.

  • Never a watermark.

    Free means free. No stamp on the sanitized copy, no diagonal "sample," no gotcha at download.

Why people choose Pdf Clarity

  • Private by default

    Your PDFs are transferred over TLS and deleted within one hour. We don't look at them, and you don't need an account.

  • Fast and free

    Editing, annotating, signing, merging and splitting are free with no signup. Your first upload opens the editor in seconds.

  • Works in any browser

    Open the editor in Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Edge on Mac, Windows, Linux or Chromebook. You never install anything.

More ways to redact a PDF

Permanently redact PDF text

When you apply a redaction, the text underneath the black box is rewritten out of the PDF, not just covered. Your sanitized copy returns nothing to copy-paste, nothing to Ctrl+F, nothing to recover.

Redact names across a PDF

Type the name you want gone and we mark every instance across every page in one pass. Good for contracts, court documents, HR files where the same identifier repeats dozens of times.

Redact PDF for legal discovery

Review your redaction marks as editable drafts before you commit, then apply them as one irreversible step. The workflow mirrors the review-before-apply pattern litigation teams expect.

Black out text in PDF

Drag a black box over any region of any page. The box itself is visual feedback — when you apply, the text underneath is actually deleted from the file, so the black rectangle isn't a cover-up.

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to what people ask us most about editing a PDF online for free. Tap any question and the answer expands inline.

Is my data truly gone, or just hidden behind a black box?
Truly gone. When you apply a redaction, we rewrite the PDF so the text under the black box is deleted from the file. Copy-paste across the box returns nothing. Ctrl+F can't find it. Extraction tools can't recover it. That's the whole difference between redacting and drawing a black rectangle in an editor.
Can someone copy-paste the text out from under the black box?
No. The text underneath the redaction is deleted on apply, so there's nothing to copy. If you used a regular annotate tool to draw a black rectangle instead, the text would still be there — that's why this dedicated redact tool exists.
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
You can drag redaction boxes over scanned PDFs, but search-and-redact only works on native-text PDFs where the text layer exists. For a scan, run OCR first to create the text layer, then come back here.
Can I redact the same name across every page at once?
Yes. Type the name, client ID, or any string and we mark every instance across every page in one pass — on native-text PDFs. Review the marks before you commit; the apply step is irreversible.
What if I apply a redaction I didn't mean to?
The apply step is irreversible on purpose — that's what makes it a real redaction. Keep an unredacted copy before you commit if you might need the original back. While your marks are still drafts, you can move or delete them freely.
Will the redacted PDF have a watermark?
Never. Not on free, not on Pro, not ever.
Is it really free? What's the catch?
There isn't one. Redacting, editing, merging, signing — all free, for as long as you need them. No signup, no watermark, no trial timer.
How big a PDF can I redact?
Up to 100 MB on the free plan. If you need bigger — a long deposition, a thick case file — the Pro tier handles up to 500 MB.
What happens to my file after I'm done?
Deleted within one hour of upload. Encrypted in transit and at rest. Never read by a human, never shared, never used to train anything. Your original and the sanitized copy are both gone from our side within the hour.

Related PDF tools

Learn more

Ready to keep reading? You can go deeper on common tasks in the help center articles below.

You can also browse all PDF tools from the tools hub.