Is the redaction truly permanent?

Yes. Solid black rectangles are drawn directly onto the PDF page content using pdf-lib. The original text beneath is not recoverable from the output file.

Can I redact multiple pages?

Yes. Use the page navigation buttons to move between pages and draw boxes on each page before clicking Apply. All redactions across all pages are applied in one go.

What about text under images or graphics?

The redaction covers everything in the drawn area — text, images, and vector graphics. For highly sensitive documents, also flatten the PDF after redacting.

Files are processed on our secure servers and deleted within 2 hours. We never read or store your document contents.

Is this suitable for legal or compliance redaction?

For general use, yes. For compliance-critical redactions (HIPAA, GDPR, legal discovery), verify the output in a PDF reader to confirm no text is selectable beneath the black boxes before distributing.

Redact PDF Online Free — Permanently Black Out Text

How to redact a PDF

1
Upload your PDF
Upload the PDF that contains content you need to redact.
2
Select areas to redact
Draw black boxes over the text or image areas you want to permanently remove.
3
Apply and download
Click Apply Redaction. The selected areas are permanently blacked out in the output PDF.

About PDF redaction tool

Redaction is the process of permanently removing sensitive information from a document before sharing it externally. Unlike simply drawing a black rectangle on top of content, true redaction burns the removal into the PDF so the underlying text cannot be recovered by copying, selecting, or inspecting the file.

DocumentFlipper's redaction tool lets you draw boxes over the text or image areas you want removed. When you apply the redaction, both the visual representation and the underlying text data are permanently deleted from the output file. The redacted areas are replaced with solid black boxes — a standard convention in legal, government, and compliance documents.

Your file is processed on our secure server and deleted within two hours. Use redaction carefully, as it is irreversible on the output file.

Frequently asked questions

Is the redaction truly permanent?: Yes. Solid black rectangles are drawn directly onto the PDF page content using pdf-lib. The original text beneath is not recoverable from the output file.
Can I redact multiple pages?: Yes. Use the page navigation buttons to move between pages and draw boxes on each page before clicking Apply. All redactions across all pages are applied in one go.
What about text under images or graphics?: The redaction covers everything in the drawn area — text, images, and vector graphics. For highly sensitive documents, also flatten the PDF after redacting.
Is my file safe?: Files are processed on our secure servers and deleted within 2 hours. We never read or store your document contents.
Is this suitable for legal or compliance redaction?: For general use, yes. For compliance-critical redactions (HIPAA, GDPR, legal discovery), verify the output in a PDF reader to confirm no text is selectable beneath the black boxes before distributing.