Does this really remove the hidden text, or just cover it?

It removes it. Many tools simply draw a rectangle on top of live text, which can be selected, copied or dragged aside in another viewer. This tool rasterises every page and bakes the black boxes into the image, then rebuilds the PDF from those flattened images. The original text and vector layer is discarded, so the redacted content cannot be recovered from the exported file.

Is my document uploaded anywhere?

No. The PDF is read, rendered, edited and re-saved entirely in your browser using local JavaScript and WebAssembly. No file, page or byte is ever sent to a server, which makes it safe for confidential contracts, medical records and financial statements.

Why does the exported PDF lose selectable text?

Because redaction works by flattening each page to an image, the whole page becomes a picture rather than selectable text. This is intentional and is what guarantees the redacted areas are unrecoverable. If you need selectable text on the unredacted parts, keep your original and only share the redacted export.

What export resolution should I choose?

150 dpi is a good default for documents that will be read on screen or printed at normal size. Use 200 or 300 dpi for pages with fine print or that will be enlarged. Higher resolutions produce sharper output but a larger file.

Can I redact several areas across many pages?

Yes. Move between pages with the page controls and draw as many boxes as you like on each one. A running count shows how many boxes exist on the current page and across the whole document, and you can clear a single page or every box at once.

What is the difference between the black, labelled and white styles?

A solid black box is the classic redaction look. The labelled style stamps the word REDACTED in white over the black box so readers know the omission is deliberate. The white outlined style blanks the area to white with a thin border, useful when you want the hidden region to look like empty space rather than a censored block.

PDF Redactor — Gera Tools

A free, private PDF redactor that lets you permanently black out sensitive information — names, addresses, account numbers, signatures, salary figures — before you share a document. You upload a PDF, drag black boxes over anything that should be hidden, and export a new file where that content is genuinely gone, not merely covered. Everything happens inside your browser, so confidential paperwork never touches a server.

How it works

Most “redaction” you see online is cosmetic: a tool draws a rectangle on top of the page while the underlying text stays intact in the file. Open that PDF in a different reader and the text can be selected, copied, or the rectangle dragged aside — the secret was never removed. This tool takes a stricter approach.

When you upload a PDF it is rendered page by page with pdfjs-dist, the same engine that powers in-browser PDF viewers. You draw your redaction boxes directly on the rendered page; each box is stored in PDF-point coordinates so it stays accurate whatever zoom you use. On export, every page is re-rasterised at your chosen resolution, the black boxes are painted onto that bitmap, and a fresh PDF is rebuilt from the flattened images with pdf-lib. Because the original text and vector layer is discarded, the redacted areas cannot be selected, copied, or recovered from the output. The trade-off is that the exported pages become images, so keep your original if you still need editable text.

You can mix redaction styles per document — solid black, a labelled “REDACTED” block, or a white outlined box — and choose an export DPI to balance sharpness against file size. There is a one-click “header band” helper for the common case of blanking a running header or footer that carries a name or reference number.

Example

You have a signed tenancy agreement to send to a guarantor, but you must hide your bank details and date of birth. Upload the PDF, drag a box over the sort code and account number on page two, drag another over your date of birth on page one, and optionally add a header band to cover the document reference. Pick 150 dpi and the solid black style, click Export redacted PDF, and download agreement-redacted.pdf. The guarantor receives a clean copy; the hidden fields are flattened into the page image and can never be lifted back out.

Every step runs locally. No upload, no account, no watermark on the output — the redaction is real and the file stays on your device.