{# Als einziges Symbol OHNE fill-Attribut: Der Stern zeigt seinen Zustand ueber die Flaeche (.sts-star[aria-pressed="true"] svg { fill: currentColor }). Ein fill am symbol waere ein Praesentationsattribut und schluege die geerbte CSS-Angabe - der gemerkte Stern bliebe dann eine Kontur. #} {# Bedienungssymbole des Notizblocks. Quelle: Lucide (ISC-Lizenz), wie in der Design-Uebergabe "Alltagswerkzeuge v2". Geometrisch statt handgezeichnet: sie stehen in Leisten neben Text, nicht als Kategoriezeichen. #}
Small Things Sorted

Redact a PDF

Black out names and numbers - so that they are really gone.

Stays on your device – Redaction happens in your browser. Your PDF is not uploaded - least of all the part that is meant to disappear.

Drop your files here

or

You can also paste with Ctrl+V.

Pages with a redaction are saved as pictures. That is the only way the text underneath is really gone - a black box on its own would merely cover it. Text on those pages can no longer be selected; every other page stays as it was. Bookmarks, form fields, attachments and document properties are not carried over.

What you type is processed in your browser and never sent to us.

How to do it

  1. Pick your PDF

    Drop the document in or choose it. The pages appear as a preview.

  2. Draw boxes

    Drag a box over the spot. A click or tap places one the height of a line.

  3. Adjust

    Drag to move, use the lower right corner to resize, the cross to remove.

  4. Save

    Download the redacted PDF.

What this is for

A bank statement for the landlord, a report for the insurer, a contract as an example for a colleague: the document has to go out, a few places in it must not. That is what this is for.

A black box is not a redaction. This is the mistake most tools make - and with them, authorities and courts. Laying a rectangle over text only covers it. Select, copy, paste - and the name is back.

Here every page with a redaction is rebuilt as a picture, with the black in the pixels themselves. What stood underneath no longer exists in the file - neither as text nor as a layer. All other pages stay unchanged, with searchable text.

And of course nothing is uploaded: whatever is meant to disappear never leaves your device in the first place.

Common questions

Yes. Pages with a redaction are rebuilt as pictures, with the black in the pixels themselves. The original text of that page is not in the new file any more - not even as a hidden layer that could be uncovered.

Because that is the price of a real redaction. Removing part of a page's text while keeping the rest as text means reaching deep into the file - and a mistake there would quietly leave text behind. The picture is the safe answer. Pages without a redaction stay unchanged.

200 dpi reads well on screen and on paper. 150 dpi makes the file smaller, 300 dpi is meant for print.

Bookmarks, form fields, file attachments and document properties such as author and title. That is on purpose: any of those can also contain what is meant to disappear.

No. The redaction happens entirely in your browser.

The signature no longer applies afterwards - any change to the file invalidates it. The tool tells you before you save.

Missing a tool? Tell us which one.