Hide names, account numbers and addresses before you send a statement, a contract or a screenshot. Redacted pages are rebuilt so the text under the boxes is really gone, and the saved file is checked to prove it. Nothing leaves your device.
Drawing a black rectangle over text in most PDF editors only covers it: the words are still in the file, and anyone can copy them out or find them with a search. That has caught out lawyers, governments and companies for years.
Redact removes them. Every page you put a box on is rebuilt as an image with the boxes burned in, so there is no text left underneath. Pages without boxes are copied as they are, so their text can still be selected. Then the whole file is cleaned of its hidden data (author, software, comments, form fields, attachments, scripts) and the saved file is searched for everything you redacted.
Use Find to box every place a name appears, or Find personal details to catch email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers (checked with the Luhn sum), IBANs, UK sort codes and account numbers, National Insurance and Social Security numbers. Review each match before it’s boxed. For photos and screenshots, boxes can be solid or strong pixel blocks; solid is safest, because blurred text can sometimes be guessed back.
Some documents need a particular kind of redaction, for example court filings or freedom of information responses. If you’re not sure, ask whoever asked for the document. This isn’t legal advice.
Drag to draw a box. Tap a word to box it, tap a box to remove it.
Black out PDFs and photos, properly · Free business app for your browser
Black out names, account numbers, addresses and anything else in a PDF or a photo before you send it, so it’s really gone rather than just covered. Drag a box, tap a word, find every place a name appears, or let Redact find email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers, IBANs, UK sort codes and account numbers, National Insurance and Social Security numbers for you to review. Pages with boxes are rebuilt as pictures with the boxes burned in, so the text under them can’t be copied or searched; the file’s hidden data (author, software, comments, form fields, attachments) is removed; and the saved file is searched again to prove nothing you redacted is left. Free, and nothing is uploaded.
Free to use. Optional one-time upgrade: Redact Pro, $2.99 (no subscription), or every upgrade in every Yuzool app with Yuzool Plus, $19.99 once. Works on iPhone, Android, Mac and PC; add it to your Home Screen to open it like an app.
Guide: How to redact a PDF properly, so it can’t be undone