Hiding is not the same as removing
Drawing a black box over text in many editors only covers it: the words are still inside the file and can be copied, searched or uncovered by deleting the box. Real redaction permanently removes the information, which is essential before sharing documents with personal, financial or confidential details.
How it works
Drag black boxes over every area to hide — on any page — or add areas precisely with the keyboard controls. When you download, every page is redrawn as a fresh image with the black boxes burned into it. The original text layer, hidden content, attachments and metadata are not carried over, so the covered information cannot be recovered from the file.
The trade-off
Because all pages are rebuilt as images, the remaining text is no longer selectable or searchable, and links and form fields are removed. If you need the rest of the text searchable, run OCR PDF on the redacted file — the redacted areas stay black.
What people often forget to redact
Numbers repeated in headers and footers, signatures and stamps, account numbers in small print, QR codes and barcodes that contain personal data, names in file titles, and the same detail appearing on more than one page.
Good habits
Search the original for every occurrence of the information before marking, review every page of the result, and share only the redacted copy while keeping the original secure.