About Redact & Sanitize PDF

LocalPDF's Redact & Sanitize PDF tool allows you to permanently black out sensitive information such as Social Security Numbers, names, financial figures, or confidential records, and strip hidden document metadata before sharing.

Unlike basic tools that merely draw a shape over text, LocalPDF flattens redacted pages into high-resolution images. This guarantees zero text stream leakage, making it impossible for recipients to highlight, copy, or extract redacted data.

Additionally, our Metadata Sanitizer strips author names, creation software, revision history, and custom document properties for 100% privacy compliance.

How to Use

  1. 1Upload your PDF using the drag-and-drop area.
  2. 2Use your mouse on the canvas preview to draw black redaction boxes over sensitive text or numbers.
  3. 3Optionally use the "Auto-Redact" field to search and automatically place redaction boxes over matching keywords across all pages.
  4. 4Check the "Sanitize PDF Metadata" toggle to wipe document author, title, and creation timestamps.
  5. 5Click "Redact & Sanitize PDF" to generate and download your permanently secured PDF.

Key Features

Permanent Blackout

Redaction boxes are burned into the document pages to ensure text cannot be selected or extracted.

Keyword Auto-Redact

Search keywords across the document to automatically highlight and redact all occurrences.

Metadata Stripper

Remove sensitive document properties including Author, Title, Creator, Producer, and Creation Date.

100% Local Privacy

Document processing runs entirely in your local browser using Web Workers. No file uploads or cloud servers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this redaction permanent?

Yes. LocalPDF flattens redacted pages into image layers, permanently removing the underlying text stream so it cannot be recovered.

Can someone copy-paste text underneath a black redaction box?

No. Because the redacted pages are rasterized and re-embedded, there is no selectable text layer beneath the blacked-out areas.

What metadata is stripped when sanitizing?

Sanitization strips the Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, Creation Date, and Modification Date fields from the PDF metadata dictionary.

Is any data uploaded to a server?

No. All PDF loading, canvas rendering, blackout drawing, and metadata sanitization occur 100% locally on your computer.