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Sheafy PDF

Redact a PDF

Draw boxes over names, numbers or anything else that must not be seen. When you apply the redaction, the covered content is removed from the file, not just hidden behind a black rectangle.

  • No login or account
  • No uploads to any server
  • No documents stored

How to use Redact PDF

  1. 1Add your PDF and move to a page that contains sensitive information.
  2. 2Drag to draw a box over each area. Move or resize boxes, and use Undo if you make a mistake.
  3. 3Choose black or white fill. Use Apply to all pages for repeating headers or footers.
  4. 4Select Apply redactions, review the result, and download the new PDF.

How this redaction works, and its limits

A black rectangle drawn on top of a PDF hides nothing: the text underneath can still be selected, searched or extracted. This tool takes a different route. Every page that has a redaction box is rendered to a picture, the boxed areas of that picture are overwritten with solid pixels, and a new page is built from the sanitized picture alone. The original text, fonts, annotations and hidden objects of that page are not copied into the new file.

The trade-off is that redacted pages become images: their remaining text can no longer be selected or searched, and file size can change. Pages without boxes keep their selectable text unless you turn on full-document sanitization, which converts every page.

The output is always a newly built document. Document properties (title, author and other metadata), attachments, bookmarks, form fields, links and comments are not carried over from the original, on any page.

Redaction only removes what you cover. Sensitive information elsewhere on a page, on other pages, or legible through context will remain. Always review the downloaded file before sharing it.

Frequently asked questions

Is the redacted text really gone?

On redacted pages, yes: those pages are rebuilt from pixels in which the boxed areas were overwritten, and the original page content is not included in the output. Our automated tests check the output with text extraction, hidden-text, annotation, attachment and metadata inspection. No tool can promise more than it tests, so please still review your file before sharing.

Why can I no longer select text on redacted pages?

Because those pages are now images. That is what makes the removal reliable. Pages you did not redact keep their text unless you enable full-document sanitization.

Does it remove metadata?

Yes. The output is a new document: title, author, other document properties, attachments, bookmarks, comments, links and form fields from the original are not copied.

What is full-document sanitization?

It converts every page to an image, not only the pages with boxes. Use it when any selectable or hidden text anywhere in the document could be sensitive.

Can I redact scanned documents?

Yes. Scans are pictures already; the boxed areas of the picture are overwritten and the page is re-encoded.

Could someone still read redacted text some other way?

Not from the covered pixels. But be careful with context: a short box can reveal the length of a name, and uncovered text nearby may give the content away.