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How to Redact a PDF - PDF Document Redaction​ - Redact PDF Free

Redact sensitive information from PDF documents with precision. Define rules to hide emails, phones, SSNs, credit cards, names, and more. Customize colors and replacement text for professional redacted documents.

Privacy First Customizable Colors 100% Browser-Based Fast OCR Processing

Key Features

Two-Step Workflow

Step 1: OCR extracts text from PDFs with layout preservation. Step 2: Define redaction rules and apply with one click. Review text before redacting for complete control.

Custom Color Redaction

Choose background color (black, red, white) and replacement text color. 6 quick color presets. Perfect for legal docs, medical records, and business documents requiring professional redaction.

9 Predefined Patterns

Instantly redact emails, phone numbers, SSNs, credit cards, IP addresses, URLs, dates, passport numbers, and ZIP codes. One-click toggle for each pattern type.

Custom Redaction Rules

Create rules with start/end text markers. Redact text between patterns like "Name:" and "Address:" or after a marker until end of line. Each rule can have its own color scheme.

Google Drive Integration

Auto-sync redacted PDFs to Google Drive. Manual upload per file option. Files are saved in organized tool-specific folders. Optional auto-sync after redaction completes.

Multi-PDF Batch Processing

Process up to 5 PDFs simultaneously. Configurable concurrency up to 8 threads. Parallel OCR with semaphore control. Download all redacted PDFs as a ZIP file.

How to Redact PDF Documents

1
Upload PDFs

Upload up to 5 PDF files by dragging & dropping or browsing. Select the document language for accurate OCR text extraction.

2
Read PDF Text (OCR)

Click "Read PDF Text" to run OCR on all pages. Text is extracted with layout preservation. Review the extracted text in the viewer.

3
Define Rules & Redact

Select predefined patterns or create custom rules. Choose colors and replacement text. Click "Redact All" to process all PDFs.

4
Download Redacted PDFs

Download individual redacted PDFs or all as ZIP. Auto-sync to Google Drive if enabled. Original text is permanently hidden.

Why Choose Our PDF Redaction Tool?

  • No Registration Required - Start redacting immediately
  • 9 Predefined Patterns - Emails, phones, SSNs, credit cards, and more
  • Custom Rules - Define start/end text markers for targeted redaction
  • Color Customization - Choose background and text colors per rule
  • Layout Preservation - Maintains original document formatting
  • Batch Processing - Redact up to 5 PDFs simultaneously
  • Google Drive Sync - Auto-upload redacted files to Drive
  • ZIP Download - Download all redacted PDFs at once
  • 100% Browser-Based - All processing happens locally
  • 90+ Languages - OCR support for documents worldwide

Frequently Asked Questions

The tool uses a two-step process: Step 1 - OCR: Text is extracted from PDF pages using Tesseract OCR with layout preservation. Step 2 - Redaction: You define rules (predefined patterns or custom markers), then the tool finds matching text, draws colored rectangles over it, and writes replacement text on top. The result is a new PDF with permanently hidden sensitive information.

Yes! Each redaction rule can have its own background color (what covers the original text) and text color (the replacement text). Choose from 6 quick presets (Black/White, Red/White, Dark/Red, Dark/Green, Purple/White, Yellow/Red) or enter custom hex color codes. The replacement text (like ████████ or [REDACTED]) appears centered in the colored box.

Yes, completely secure! All OCR processing and PDF redaction happens locally in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to any server. The extracted text is stored temporarily in browser memory only. Google Drive sync is optional and requires your explicit authentication. We use client-side JavaScript libraries (PDF.js, Tesseract.js, PDF-lib) for all processing.

9 built-in patterns for instant redaction: 📧 Emails, 📞 Phone Numbers, 🔒 SSNs, 💳 Credit Cards, 🌐 IP Addresses, 🔗 URLs, 📅 Numeric Dates, 🛂 Passport Numbers, and 📮 ZIP Codes. Simply click a pattern chip to toggle it on/off. Each pattern uses intelligent regex matching to find and redact the corresponding data type.

After connecting your Google account, you have two options: Auto-Sync (enabled in Settings) automatically uploads redacted PDFs after processing, or Manual Upload via the sync button on each file card. Files are saved in a structured folder: onlineocr.io/Pdf2Redact/. Token refresh happens silently in the background.

Click "Define Rules" → "Add Rule". Give it a name (e.g., "Client Names"), set a Start Text (e.g., "Name:"), and optionally an End Text (e.g., "Address:"). If no end text is provided, everything after the start text until end of line is redacted. Choose colors, set replacement text (e.g., "[REDACTED]" or "████████"), and save. Rules are stored in your browser's localStorage.

Yes! Upload up to 5 PDFs, run OCR on all, define your rules once, then click "Redact All". All PDFs are processed with the same rules. You can download individual redacted files or get all as a ZIP. Concurrency is configurable (up to 8 threads for Pro users) for faster batch processing.

90+ languages supported including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Hindi, and many more. Select the document's language from the language picker on each file card for optimal OCR accuracy.

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