Draw black boxes or search for names and numbers, then apply. The covered text is removed from the file — and your document never leaves this browser tab.
Step by step
Drop your PDF into the box above. Its pages appear as previews.
Mark what to hide. Drag on a page to draw a box, or type names and numbers and click "Mark matches" — it can also find email addresses, phone numbers and long card or ID numbers on every page at once.
Check the boxes, then click "Apply redaction." Click any box to remove it before applying.
Download the redacted copy. Before it's offered, PDFLite re-opens the result and confirms no text is left on the redacted pages.
Why a black box usually isn't enough
Drawing a shape over text
A black rectangle added in a PDF editor or annotation tool sits on top of the page. The text underneath is still in the file — anyone can select it, copy it, or search for it. This is how "redacted" details keep leaking from published documents.
PDFLite
Re-draws every page that has a box as an image with the black area burned in. The original text of that page is not copied into the new file at all, so there is nothing underneath to recover.
Why nothing gets uploaded
You redact a document because it holds something that shouldn't be seen. Sending the unredacted original to an online service first defeats the purpose. PDFLite does all of it — reading, searching, re-drawing and checking — inside your browser tab, so the original never reaches a server.
Want to confirm it? Here's how to verify that yourself with your browser's network tab.
What to know before you share the result
Also removed: links, form fields, bookmarks and document metadata such as author and title — these can carry names too.
Redacted pages become images. Text on those pages can no longer be selected or searched. Pages without boxes stay exactly as they were. Tick "Flatten every page" if you want no selectable text anywhere in the file.
Automatic search only finds real text. In a scanned document the words are part of a picture, so draw boxes over them by hand. Found words get boxes sized from font measurements with extra margin — look them over before applying.
Always open the redacted file and check it before sending it on, especially for legal filings.
Who this is for
Lawyers preparing exhibits, HR teams sharing documents, clinics sending records, accountants passing statements to a third party — and anyone who needs to send a CV, contract or ID copy with a few details hidden.
Free plan limits
3/day
Actions across all tools
15 pages
Cap per document
Longer documents or daily use? Premium removes both limits — $5/month.