How to redact a PDF so the text is really gone
Open the PDF in PDFluent Editor, choose "Redact", and drag over what should go. Click "Apply redactions permanently" and save the file; after that, the marked text is gone from the file. The editor is free for everyone, including work use, and everything happens on your own computer.
You have a PDF you need to send. A contract, a bank statement, a report with someone's name and number in it. Most of it can go out as it is, but a few lines must not. That is what redaction is for: taking specific content out of the file before anyone else sees it.
The catch is that a lot of what looks like redaction is not. A black rectangle drawn over a line hides it on screen and leaves it in the file underneath. This guide shows how to do it properly in PDFluent Editor, by dragging over an area. It also covers what redaction cannot do, and how to check the result before you send anything.
PDFluent Editor is free for everyone, including commercial use, and you do not need an account. Version 1.1 is available for macOS now; Windows follows. Your documents are processed on your own computer, so the file you are redacting is not uploaded anywhere.
Why a black box is not redaction
A PDF is not a flat picture of a page. It is closer to a set of instructions: put this text here in this font, draw this image there. When you draw a black box or a highlight over a line, you add one more instruction on top. The text below it is untouched.
So the text is still there. Anyone who gets the file can select it and copy it out, find it with search, or simply delete the box. Annotations work the same way. They sit on top of the page, and the reader can hide, move or remove them.
Real redaction removes the content from the file itself. What is left in its place is a black area with nothing behind it.
| Black box on top | Real redaction | |
|---|---|---|
| What is left in the file | The original text, with a shape drawn over it | A black area. The text under it is removed |
| Can it be copied | Yes. Select across the box and copy, and the text comes along | No. There is no text left to copy |
| Can it be found by search | Yes. Search finds the word under the box | No. Search finds nothing in the redacted spot |
| Can it be undone | Yes. Anyone can move or delete the box | No, once applied and saved. Keep a copy of your original |
PDFluent Editor is free for everyone, including commercial and business use. There is no account to create. Download it, open a copy of your PDF and start.
Redact by area
Use this for anything you can point at: a name, a number, a signature, a photo, a table cell, a stamp or a whole paragraph. It is also the way to go on scanned pages, where the text is part of an image.
Choose Redact
With the copy of your PDF open, choose "Redact". The editor shows the hint "Drag the mouse over text or images on the page to mark them for redaction."
Drag over the area
Press and drag across what you want gone. Make the mark a little larger than the content, so the edges of letters or of an image are not left behind.
Mark everything, on every page
Go through the whole document and mark each area you need. Each mark appears under "Draft redactions" and the count goes up.
Apply and confirm
Click "Apply redactions permanently" and confirm the dialog. If the engine cannot remove what is under a mark, it refuses and tells you, instead of drawing a black box and calling it done.
Save the file
When "Redactions permanently applied" appears, save the file. Until you save, the file on your disk is unchanged.
PDFluent Editor is free for everyone, including commercial use, and your documents stay on your computer.
What redaction does and does not do
Redaction in PDFluent Editor does one specific thing: once applied and saved, the marked text is gone from the file. It is worth being precise about that, because several things sit just outside it.
- Marking is not removing. Draft redactions are a plan. If you close the file after marking and before applying, nothing has been taken out.
- Applying is not saving. After "Redactions permanently applied", the change lives in the open document. Save the file, or the copy on disk still has everything in it.
- It cannot be undone. Once saved, the removed content is not kept somewhere else in the file for later. That is the point. Keep your original in a safe place and send only the redacted copy.
- It only removes what you mark. You decide what goes, so check every page, including headers, footers, captions, tables and the appendix nobody reads.
- Scanned pages are images. A scan has no text to select until the page has been through OCR (text recognition), so drag over the part you want hidden.
- When it cannot remove something, it says so. Some content is built in a way the engine cannot take apart safely. In that case it refuses that mark and tells you, so you know that spot is not covered and can deal with it another way.
- It is a tool, not legal advice. Whether a redacted document meets the rules that apply to you is for you, your organisation or your adviser to judge. The editor does not certify compliance with any law.
One more thing that is easy to forget. Some PDFs carry information outside the visible page, such as a title or author name in the document properties, or attached files. Check those separately before you send.
How to check that it worked
Do this on the saved file, not on the document you still have open. Close it, then open the saved copy again.
- Search for each word or number you redacted. The search should find nothing in the places you marked.
- Try to select and copy across a redacted area, then paste into a plain text editor. Nothing from the removed content should come out.
- Scroll through every page and look for anything you missed: a name in a footer, initials in a signature block, a number repeated in a table.
- If you redacted by area on a scanned page, zoom in on the edges of each black area. No part of a letter or digit should still show.
- Compare with your original, to be sure you removed what you meant to and nothing else.
If a search still finds a word, it was either not marked or the file was not saved after applying. Go back, mark it, apply and save again, then check once more.
Free, and done on your own computer
The documents people redact are usually the ones they least want to hand to a website. PDFluent Editor runs on your own Mac or Windows PC, and your documents are processed there. It works without an internet connection. A document only leaves your computer if you attach it to a feedback report yourself and confirm it a second time.
The editor is free for everyone, at home and at work, including commercial use. No account is needed. Download it, open a copy of the PDF you need to share, and take out what should not go with it.
Frequently asked questions
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
Use area redaction. A scanned page is an image, so there is no text to select until the page has been through OCR. Drag over the part you want hidden, apply, save, and then check the result. If the engine cannot remove what is under a mark, it refuses and tells you.
Can redaction be undone?
Not after you apply it and save the file. The content is removed rather than covered, so there is nothing to bring back. Before you apply, the marks are only drafts and nothing has changed yet. That is why you should work on a copy and keep the original.
Is a black box or a highlight enough?
No. A shape or highlight drawn on top leaves the text in the file underneath. Anyone can select and copy it, find it with search, or delete the box. Use real redaction so the text itself is removed.
Does my file get uploaded?
No. The editor processes documents on your own computer and works without an internet connection. A document only leaves your computer if you attach it to a feedback report yourself and confirm it a second time.
Is it really free for work use?
Yes. PDFluent Editor is free for everyone, including commercial and business use, and you do not need an account. You can redact files at work the same way you would at home.
Which computers does it run on?
PDFluent Editor 1.1 is available for macOS now, and Windows follows. The steps in this guide use the 1.1 interface.
Keep reading
PDFluent Editor is free for everyone.
Including at work. No account, and your documents stay on your computer.