Can You Redact PDF for Free? Best Free Tools Compared
Updated August 2025 • 13 min read
I was required to delete a pile of legal documents last month prior to providing them to a third party. My immediate reaction was the same as that of the majority of individuals: I needed to pay this? And we are just covering some text, eh? Not so much, actually- and that was a mistake that cost one of my colleagues a lot of money when they discovered that some information that they had been redacted was too easy to find on a PDF.
Real PDF redaction does not mean the act of placing a black box over a sensitive passage. It destroys the background information permanently and therefore cannot be copied, selected through the use of the text function or any other means. The good news? It is possible, of course, to redact PDFs free of charge. The catch? Not any tool is as free as it may be and understanding which of the tools is a good one can prevent you form getting headaches (or even worse, data breach).
Real Redaction vs. Simply Covering Text Understanding
Among the tools, it is best to first define the meaning of redaction. I have witnessed hundreds of documents, where an individual simply created a black square over text in some cheap PDF-editor or even made a screenshot and painted it. The problem? The original is still present, and buried beneath that.
Any layman is able to copy-paste the text or peel off the covering layer.
Redaction will permanently erase the information in the file. It's gone. Irretrievable. This is very important with social security numbers, finances, health records or a sensitive business information. A law firm that I had to work with once almost got sanctioned due to the failure of a paralegal to use the correct process to cover up the information related to clients, the opposing counsel just picked up the black boxes and viewed all the details.
The Best PDF Redactors that are Free
Having tried many alternatives during the last several years, the following one is what I have seen to work without spending a single dime.
Adobe Acrobats Reader (limited version)
And here is something that most people are not aware of: the free Adobe Acrobat Reader is not accompanied with redaction options. It requires Adobe Acrobat Pro which costs approximately $15-20 per month. I bring this to the forefront since most individuals would think that the free version is capable of doing this- it is not.
However, there is a 7-day free trial version of Acrobat Pro by Adobe, with which full redaction can be performed. This trial period can come to your rescue in case you need something once or even once in a lifetime or a few documents. Its redaction tool is powerful enough - you can search and redact several examples of a word or phrase at once which proves to be incredibly handy when working with large documents.
LibreOffice Draw
This open source choice amazed me the first time I used it. Although LibreOffice is mainly regarded as a Word processor/spreadsheets, on the one hand, its Draw module is capable of opening PDFs and making simple redactors.
The following is the process: Open your PDF in libreoffice draw, draw a rectangle tool over areas that are sensitive and export to PDF using the black box tool. The most important stage that most individuals overlook is to flatten the document upon exporting the document- this renders the redaction irreversible. It is a mere cover up without flattening.
The downside? It is cumbersome with multi-page documents and it does not have the search-and-redact feature. On a one page form or a short document with only a few items to conceal, however, it does it at no cost.
PDF-XChange Editor (Free Version)
The version of PDF-XChange Editor I used is the free version and I have been using it in the last three years and it is now my favorite when I need to do quick redaction. Contrary to most betas of the so-called, free tools which slap watermarks on what you have created or place restrictions on page counts, PDF-XChange Editor provides true redaction in its free version.
It is simple: choose the redaction tool, highlight those areas that you would like to get rid of, and implement the redactions. The content is deleted permanently in the software. You even have the option of customizing the look of redacted text: solid black, white or with text of your own choice such as REDACTED.
The catch? There are options which are only accessible in the paid version and you will be occasionally reminded to upgrade. However, in the redaction case, the free version can deal with everything I have thrown at it.
PDFtk (PDF Toolkit)
PDFtk is an excellent option to people who are at ease with command-line tools. It is entirely free and open-source, and it functions in a very different way compared to the visual editors. To create the redaction overlays, you will have to use other tools and then PDFtk can be used to flatten the PDF so that the redactions are permanent.
Frankly, this is not likely to be the easiest option unless you are operating in the batch mode or have some scripting knowledge. I mention it because it is really trustworthy and lacks any of the functional limitations that other free applications place.
Google Docs Workaround
It is not classical redaction, but this is how I did it when I was in a hurry: save your PDF in the Google Drive and open it in Google Docs and delete carefully the sensitive text using only the deletion key, and then save it as PDF again.
The major limitation? This can only be true in cases where one is happy to retype or re format a section entirely and you will lose certain formatting during the conversion process. It is a reworking of the document not quite redaction, but rather rebuilding it without the sensitive information. It should be applied only in case you have plain and text-based documents and time to waste.
What to Be Aware of When using Free Tools
By making mistakes (or, to be more precise, error), I have come to know a few significant things to take into account when using the free redaction software:
- •Metadata matters. Although you may be able to strip out the obvious data, there might still be confidential information in PDF parameters. File properties can conceal author names, edit history and even snippets of text. This is not taken into consideration by most basic free tools. A second step that I use is to put redacted files through a metadata scrubber.
- •OCR complications. In the case that your PDF has scanned pictures instead of text that can be clicked on, redaction is more difficult. You may imagine you have covered something but when someone has the image layer of the OCR (optical character recognition) then the layer maybe harbored with hidden writing. This is not done well by some of the free tools.
- •Test before trusting. After redacting, test the PDF, I can not emphasize this point. Attempt to copy and paste off the deleted sections. View it in alternative PDF software. Send it to a colleague and tell him or her to attempt to access the hidden content. It is always a good thing to find out the problem in the course of testing as compared to after you have already submitted it to your clients or the regulating bodies.
When Free Tools Fall Short
I am an advocate of free software, but there is the question of integrity. When handling very sensitive legal files, medical files, or anything that would have had you fined by the regulators or liable to lawsuits had you handled it wrongly, it would be rational to invest in high quality software. Such tools as Adobe Acrobat Pro, Foxit Phantom PDF, or Nitro Pro can provide such functions as:
- •Mass re-redaction of several files.
- •Search and redact Advanced search Advanced redact (such as automatically identifying all SSN format)
- •Total metadata elimination.
- •Audit trails of a redacted data.
- •Improved management of complicated PDFs that have forms, pictures, and in-built objects.
Free tools are good enough when the occasional use is required or when the business is small, and there are no significant compliance needs. In all other respects, it should be regarded as a business expense that is worth the investment.
My Final Take
Can you redact PDFs for free? Absolutely. Is it always necessary to use something free? It depends on what you are defending and what is the outcome of failure.
In my personal files, such as tax returns that I am providing to a financial advisor, employment applications with references that I would rather hide to some extent or invoices that include certain client information that I would rather conceal, a free utility such as PDF-XChange Editor comes in very handy. In the case of anything related to my consulting business and where client confidentiality is a priority, I rely on commercial applications with powerful functionalities and customer service.
The free PDF redaction technology has advanced significantly in the last five years. There are good and workable alternatives that will not be expensive. All you have to do is learn to live with their weaknesses, benchmark and get the right tool to suit your needs in terms of security.
FAQs
Is it possible to edit a PDF using free software in Microsoft Word?
Yes, but with limitations. The Word will open up the PDF, remove sensitive material and save as PDF. Nonetheless, this has a tendency of formatting wrong and does not convert complex PDFs. It is more appropriate to plain text documents.
Are scribbling the text using a marker and scanning it the same as digital redaction?
Yes-yes, to have the simplest privacy, the text is physically obscured. Nevertheless, the quality of scanned images may enable one to view beneath thin marker websites and it is not professional. Electronic redaction is purer and more trustworthy.
Are watermarks left behind by free PDF redaction tools?
Others do, yet the programs listed below (LibreOffice Draw, PDF-XChange Editor free edition, PDFtk) will not add any watermarks to your redacted documents. One should always verify before making a decision.
Is it possible to recover any information that has been redacted?
No, in case redaction is performed in a correct manner using tools that permanently erase data (not merely cover it). Yet, in the case when a person simply overlaid text with an object or a mark and did not remove the text behind it, it may be rescued very often. This is the reason why testing is important.
What am I supposed to do when I want to know whether the redacting of my PDF was successful?
Attempt to choose and copy some text in the redacted part. Open the PDF with several readers. Check the file's metadata. Spread it out to someone and ask him/her to make an attempt to recover. When all these tests do not disclose the repressed material, it can be assumed that your redaction was probably functioning properly.
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