Cover sensitive text, images, or regions with flattened whiteout areas in the exported PDF. Signed-in users can keep documents end-to-end encrypted. No account required for your first redaction.
No sign-up needed. Files auto-delete after 2 hours for anonymous uploads.
Draw a whiteout rectangle over any text, image, or region. The cover is flattened into the exported PDF, not saved as a removable annotation.
Covered areas are baked into the exported file so recipients cannot move or delete them as separate PDF comments or form fields.
Built-in OCR detects text inside scanned and image-based PDFs, so you can identify and redact names, IDs, and numbers even without a text layer.
Cover personal data, patient records, financial details, or privileged information before sharing documents. Always run your required compliance review before publication.
Signed-in users encrypt stored PDFs in the browser with AES-256-GCM before upload. Anonymous uploads are processed server-side over TLS and auto-delete quickly.
Uploaded files are auto-deleted after the retention window — 2 hours for anonymous, 24 hours free, 30 days Pro.
Drag and drop or browse to select the document. Sign in to store the file with end-to-end encryption.
Draw a whiteout rectangle over any text, image, or region. The covered area is flattened into the exported PDF.
Export and save the result. The covered areas are not removable PDF comments or form fields.
Most online "redaction" tools just paint a black rectangle on top of the content. The underlying text often survives and can be recovered with a simple copy-paste. RedaktPDF uses a whiteout approach that flattens the cover into the exported PDF instead of saving it as a separate annotation.
| Method | Reversible? | Text copyable? | Flattened in export? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black-box overlay | Often yes | Yes — text remains | No | Rectangle painted on top; underlying content stays in the PDF |
| Full-page rasterization | No | No | Partial | Destroys the entire text layer of every page, not just the redacted region |
| RedaktPDF whiteout | No | No | Covered area | Exports the cover as page content while the rest of the PDF stays editable and searchable |
Teams in regulated industries need careful review before sharing documents. RedaktPDF helps cover sensitive regions and export a flattened result for your normal QA process.
Redact privileged passages, witness identities, and case numbers before producing documents for discovery or filing via e-filing portals.
Strip patient names, dates, MRNs, and PHI from clinical notes and imaging reports before sharing with third parties or research partners.
Cover personal data — names, addresses, national IDs, contact details — before running your GDPR review and sharing workflow.
Redact bank account numbers, tax IDs, and transaction details from statements before sharing with counterparties or uploading for KYC review.
Signed-in users redact with zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption. The PDF is encrypted in your browser with AES-256-GCM before it leaves the device, and the file key is wrapped with a key derived from your password or passkey (WebAuthn). Our servers store and process the ciphertext only — they never see the plaintext.
The redaction itself runs in the browser as well: whiteout operations are applied to the decrypted bytes in-memory, and only the re-encrypted, redacted file is ever persisted. Read more about the architecture on our secure PDF editor page.
Scanned documents do not carry a selectable text layer, which makes finding sensitive content tedious. The Pro plan adds built-in OCR that detects text inside scanned pages so you can locate names, national IDs, account numbers, and handwritten annotations, then cover those areas before export.
Every upload is transferred over TLS, stored in encrypted-at-rest S3 object storage, and deleted automatically when the retention window expires. Signed-in users additionally get end-to-end encryption so our servers never access the plaintext. No third parties process your documents.
| Account type | Auto-delete after |
|---|---|
| Anonymous | 2 hours |
| Free | 24 hours |
| Pro | 30 days |
Part of the PDF Editor Guide · Part of the PDF Privacy Guide
Create a free account to manage your PDFs with end-to-end encryption.