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How to black out text in a PDF so it is really gone

Before a bank statement goes to a landlord or an Aadhaar copy goes to a vendor, you may want to hide some of it. Most people draw a black box over the text and send the file. The text is still underneath. Here is how to remove it properly, and how to prove to yourself that it is gone.

Updated 3 min read

Why a black box is not enough

A PDF page is a list of drawing instructions: put these letters here, draw this shape there. When you draw a black rectangle over a name in an editor, you add one more instruction on top. The instruction that draws the name is still in the file. Select the area and copy, search for the word, or open the file in a different program, and the name comes back.

Real redaction means the information is not in the file at all. The usual way is to turn the page into a picture with the box already painted in, so that what lies under the box is simply never drawn.

Black out text step by step

  1. Add the PDF to Redact PDF.
  2. To cover one place, drag a box over it. Grab a corner to resize it, or use the arrow keys.
  3. To cover the same detail everywhere, open "Find text to black out". Type a name or number, or tick a kind of detail such as phone numbers, Aadhaar numbers, PAN numbers or account numbers, and press Find.
  4. Untick any match that should stay visible, and press the button to black out the rest. Boxes appear on the pages.
  5. For something that sits in the same place on every page, such as a header, select its box and press "Same place on every page".
  6. Press Redact PDF and download the result.

Check that it worked

  • Open the new file in your PDF reader and press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on a Mac). Search for a word you covered. Nothing should be found.
  • Try to select the covered area with the mouse and copy it into a notepad. Nothing should come out.
  • Scroll through every page once. The boxes you drew are the only change.
  • Check the file name and details too: the title and author are removed unless you chose to keep them.

What you give up

A page that has a box becomes a picture, so its text can no longer be selected or searched, and the file can be larger. Pages without a box are not touched. If a long document needs only two pages redacted, only those two change.

Bookmarks, attachments and form data are not carried into the new file, because any of them can hold what you are hiding. Keep your original somewhere safe, since a redaction cannot be undone, and send only the redacted copy.

Other ways to hide a page

  • If a whole page should not be seen, remove it with Remove PDF Pages instead of covering it.
  • To trim a margin or a header off every page, use Crop PDF. Cropping only hides the cut part, so do not use it for secrets.
  • To stop others opening the file at all, add a password with Protect PDF. That is a lock, not a redaction: whoever has the password sees everything.

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