Redact a PDF, for real
Black out names, account numbers, emails or anything else, and PDFabob removes what's underneath when you download. Free, no sign-up, and the file never leaves your computer.
Choose a PDF to redactFree. No sign-up. Your file never leaves your device.
How it works
- Open your PDF.
- Draw boxes with the Redact tool, or use Tools → Find & redact to mark every match of a word, email address, phone number or long number.
- Review the black boxes, then click Download. Pages with redactions are flattened, so the hidden content is gone.
Black boxes aren't always redaction
Many free tools just draw a black rectangle on top of the text. The words are still in the file, and anyone can copy them out or delete the box. PDFabob flattens every redacted page into an image when you download, so the covered text simply isn't in the new file anymore.
If you only want to hide something visually and keep the text, use Whiteout instead.
Questions
Is the redacted text really gone?
Yes. Pages with redactions are rebuilt as images, and their original content is never copied into the new file. You can check by trying to select or search the text in the downloaded PDF.
What happens to pages without redactions?
They're copied unchanged, so their text stays selectable and searchable.
Can I redact a scanned document?
Yes, draw the boxes by hand. Find & redact needs real text in the PDF, which scans usually don't have.
Is my file uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser, and the PDF is never sent to a server.