Black out text in a PDF so it is actually gone.
Blacking out a line should remove it. With most tools the black bar is just a sticker, and the words underneath are one click from coming back. KeptPDF draws the box and destroys the text beneath it, all in your browser, so what you blacked out cannot be copied, moved, or recovered. Review the result before you share it.
Most black bars are stickers, not deletions.
When you black out text in a typical PDF editor, you are usually adding a filled shape or a highlight on top of the page. The text stays in the file. Open it in another viewer, drag the bar away, or select and copy the area, and the hidden words are right there.
A black bar covers text. Real redaction destroys it, so there is nothing underneath to recover.
KeptPDF flattens each blacked-out page to an image with the bar burned in, so the text layer beneath is gone. It runs in your browser, so the original file with the visible text is never uploaded anywhere. You can verify it yourself in the network tab.
A filled rectangle just sits on top of the text. Move it, switch viewers, or copy the page, and the hidden content is back.
The page is flattened to an image, so the text underneath is destroyed. There is nothing left to uncover.
Black out by hand, or let it find the sensitive bits
Drag a box over anything you want gone, or run auto-detect to catch the usual identifiers first.
Draw a box, and the text dies with it
Drag over any words, numbers, or a whole region. When you save, that area is flattened, so the characters underneath are destroyed, not covered.
Auto-detect the common identifiers
One click flags names, dates, phone numbers, SSNs, addresses, and emails across the document, so you are not blacking out each one by hand.
Works on scans and photos
KeptPDF OCRs image-only pages, so you can black out and remove text that lives inside a scan or a phone photo.
Nothing leaves your browser
The file is processed on your device, so the version with the text still visible is never uploaded to a server.
How to redact text in a PDF
Three steps, entirely on your device. Permanent, verifiable, no upload.
Open your PDF
Drop your file onto the page or pick it from your device. It loads into your browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Mark what to redact
Auto-detect finds names, dates, Social Security numbers, account numbers, and more. Draw boxes over anything else you want gone.
Download the clean copy
Save it. The marked content is permanently gone: the page is flattened to an image, not hidden behind a box. Give the result a quick review before you share it.
Permanent removal, nothing uploaded.
True text destruction
Each redacted page is flattened to an image, so the text layer is gone, not just covered with a shape. Content under a redaction box cannot be copied, selected, or recovered. Review the result before you share it.
Auto-detect the obvious stuff
One pass finds names, dates, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, addresses, and emails across the whole PDF, so you are not hunting for each one by hand.
Never uploaded
There is no upload step. The PDF is processed entirely in your browser, so the original is never part of a network request and never sits on anyone else's server.
Redaction certificate (Pro)
Pro adds a signed PDF and JSON audit record listing every redacted span, category, and page, which is handy for productions and compliance files. Anyone you send it to can re-check the fingerprint in their own browser, with nothing uploaded.
When you need it gone, not just hidden
Sharing a contract, a statement, a record, or a screenshot where one line should never be readable again.