ALLYX ONE
100% browser-based · zero uploads

PDF Redact

Permanently redact sensitive content from any PDF — free, no account, and your file never leaves your device. Draw black boxes over the areas you need to hide, then download a clean PDF where the original data has been destroyed, not just covered up.

Drop your PDF here, or browse

PDF files up to 100 MB

How It Works

1

Open your PDF

Drop a PDF onto the page or click to select it. Files up to 100 MB are supported. The first page renders in your browser immediately.

2

Draw redaction boxes

Click and drag directly on the page to draw solid black rectangles over anything you need to hide. Navigate between pages and redact as many areas as needed.

3

Content is destroyed

Each redacted page is rendered to a high-resolution image and re-embedded — the original text and data are gone completely, not just hidden under a black box.

4

Download and share

Download the redacted PDF straight to your device. Un-redacted pages are copied as-is so their original text and image quality is fully preserved.

How to Redact a PDF Online

  1. Drop your PDF onto the upload area or click to select it from your device.
  2. The first page renders in your browser. Click and drag to draw a black box over any sensitive content.
  3. Use the Prev and Next buttons to navigate to other pages and repeat.
  4. Use Undo last to remove the most recent box, or Clear page to reset the current page.
  5. When all redactions are in place, click Redact PDF.
  6. Your browser rasterises each affected page at high resolution, permanently destroying the underlying content.
  7. Click Download redacted PDF to save the result.

Features

  • Truly permanent redaction: Affected pages are fully rasterised — the original text, fonts and vector data are replaced by an image. No recovery is possible.
  • Your file stays private: Everything runs in your browser using PDF.js and pdf-lib. Nothing is uploaded or stored anywhere.
  • No account required: Open the page and start redacting straight away.
  • Un-redacted pages preserved: Pages without redaction boxes are copied directly using pdf-lib's copyPages() — no quality loss or re-encoding.
  • Multi-page support: Redact as many pages as you need in a single session.
  • Up to 100 MB: Handles large multi-page documents.
  • Undo and clear: Remove individual boxes or reset an entire page before processing.

Why True Redaction Matters

A common mistake when redacting PDFs is to place a black rectangle on top of text using a basic annotation or draw tool. In many cases this black box is just a separate layer — the underlying text remains in the file and can be copied, extracted, or removed by anyone with a basic PDF editor.

This tool avoids that pitfall entirely. Each page containing redaction boxes is re-rendered as a high-resolution PNG image using PDF.js at 2.5× scale. The black rectangles are painted directly onto that image before it is embedded back into the document via pdf-lib. The original content stream for the affected pages is completely replaced — there is nothing to recover.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my PDF uploaded to your servers?

No. Your file never leaves your device. Everything runs in your browser using JavaScript — nothing is sent to or stored on any server.

Is the redacted content permanently removed?

Yes. Each redacted page is fully rasterised — rendered to a high-resolution image with the black rectangles painted over it, then re-embedded using pdf-lib. The original text, fonts and vector data for those pages are completely replaced. There is nothing to copy, extract or un-hide.

Will un-redacted pages lose quality?

No. Pages with no redaction boxes are copied directly from the source PDF using pdf-lib's copyPages() API. Their text, fonts, vector graphics and embedded images are fully preserved without re-encoding.

Is this free to use?

Yes, completely free. No account required, no hidden charges, and the tool adds no visible branding to your document.

Can I redact multiple pages?

Yes. Use the Prev and Next buttons to navigate through your PDF and draw redaction boxes on as many pages as needed. All redactions are applied in a single pass when you click Redact PDF.

How large a PDF can I redact?

Up to 100 MB. Processing time depends on the number of redacted pages and your device's speed — no server round-trip is involved.

Which browsers are supported?

The tool works in all modern browsers — Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. No plugins or extra software needed.