Is this real redaction, or does it just draw a black box over the text?

Real removal. A page with a redaction box is rendered to an image with the box baked into the pixels before that page is rebuilt — the covered text or image is gone from the file, not sitting underneath a shape someone could delete or copy through.

Does this affect pages that don't have a redaction box?

No — only pages with at least one box are rebuilt from an image. Every other page is copied exactly as it was, keeping its original quality and selectable text.

What's the trade-off on a page that does get redacted?

That specific page loses selectable/searchable text, since it's now an image — the standard trade-off any tool makes to guarantee the covered content is actually gone rather than just hidden.

Redact PDF

Draw a box over anything sensitive and it's genuinely deleted — not just painted over — before you download, all on your device.

Read the Redact PDF guide

Processed on your device

Upload a PDF to Redact PDF

Drag and drop or click to select

Once redact pdf is done, you can send the result straight into another tool — merge, sign, compress, and more — without downloading and re-uploading.

Works well with

Compare PDFs

See exactly what text was added and removed between two versions of a PDF, highlighted inline.

Edit PDF

Add text, cover something up with whiteout, or drop in an image — placed exactly where you click.

Remove PDF Metadata

See what's embedded — title, author, software, timestamps — and strip it all in one click.

Redact PDF

Works well with

Common questions

Is this real redaction, or does it just draw a black box over the text?

Does this affect pages that don't have a redaction box?

What's the trade-off on a page that does get redacted?