How to Redact PDF: Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Updated August 2025 • 14 min read

I had to find out myself the value of appropriate PDF redaction. One of my colleagues believed that he had managed to conceal some sensitive client data by drawing black boxes on the text in a PDF several years ago when they worked in the legal document management. The problem? You could just copy and paste that text that was in the background just by simply lifting it off the paper. The event in question brought the company a lot of embarrassment and made me realize that redaction is not as simple as most people think it is.

The ability to effectively redact PDFs is a very vital skill whether you are dealing with confidential business agreements, legal documents, medical documents or personal documents. I would like to take you through the whole process in ways that I have done and perfected over the years.

The Real meaning of PDF Redaction

Redaction is not just literally a matter of hiding some words with black marker, at least not online. True PDF redaction is a permanent procedure of eliminating sensitive data in a document. Where it is correctly done the underlying data is fully removed, not merely obscured.

Imagine it in the following way: putting a sticky note on the Social Security number on a piece of paper does not erase the number. One can just pick up the sticky note. When it is done effectively, digital redaction literally removes such information out of existence in the file.

The Redaction Error No.1

One more thing, which I can save you before going into the how-to. Redaction does not involve using drawing tools, marking features, or even free PDF editors to overwrite text with black rectangles. The original text is also contained in the data structure of the PDF.

I have observed lawyers, hospital managers and business men and women commit this error on several occasions. The text appears to be concealed on the screen, as well as on the printed page, yet it is entirely available to anybody who understands how to extract it, which is not very hard at all.

How-to Guide with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

The Adobe Acrobat Pro is the standard of PDF redaction. Here's my workflow:

Step 1: Open Your Document

Open the PDF which requires redacting and launch Adobe Acrobat Pro. I can make a copy of the original file in case I want to make some changes to it. When you do any redacting, it is after you do it.

Step 2: Access the Redact Tool

Click a menu item in the upper left, which is named Tools; choose Redact. You will have the Redact toolbar that will feature on your screen. This special toolset is intended to be used in the case of permanent information removals.

Step 3: Audit Content to be Redacted

There are various alternatives to this:

On text: Click on the option of marking for redacting and move your cursor over the text to be deleted. The chosen region will be outlined with a red circle- it means that it is marked but not totally removed.
To select images or larger regions: Select images, signatures or whole sections as a box with the help of the rectangular selection tool.
On patterns: Here is an attribute that most do not realize. Click on Mark for Redaction that is followed by Find Text. It yields a search option that allows you to search a given pattern of information such as phone numbers, email addresses, and Social Security numbers across the whole document. This comes in most handy with long documents in which it would not be feasible to search and identify every case manually.

Step 4: Review Your Marks

Review all bolded areas before putting in the application. Zoom in. Check each page. It is common that I read documents twice since missing out on one incident nullifies the whole process.

Step 5: Apply Redactions

Go to Redact toolbar and click on Apply. A warning message will come out that this cannot be undone. Confirm, and Adobe will be done with the marked material.

Step 6: Eliminate Occupational Secrecy

This is an important step that is not taken. Click on the Redact tools and go to the Sanitize Document. It eliminates metadata, layers, remarks and other hidden information which may have sensitive information. Unless you do this, chances are that you will accidentally leave some identifying information in the file properties.

Step 7: Save As a New File

The redacted document should be saved as a new document always. This saves you the time of making copies and the versions are well defined.

Free Alteratives Which do Work

Adobe Acrobat Pro is not accessible to all people and it is admittedly rather expensive. These are some of the alternatives I have tried:

PDF-XChange Editor Pro

The Pro version of PDF-XChange Editor provides legal viability in terms of redaction. The interface is a bit difficult to get used to, yet it does not purely mask data with a visual effect.

LibreOffice Draw

LibreOffice Draw is capable of supporting PDFs and is also able to export edited ones. Though this is not specially created to redaction, you can cut out material and flatten the resultant file. It is rather a workaround than a solution.

Online Tools

There are online tools, yet I am unwilling to suggest them to really sensitive documents. The postage of confidential data to third party servers poses security threats that may be more risky than convenience.

Best Practices I've Learned

These practices have been inculcated after years of dealing with sensitive management of documents:

This should be done on copies and not originals.
Redacted PDF should be flattened to ensure that it does not flatten the layers.
Check your redaction using the test of trying to choose or copy some text in the redacted passages, you cannot.
File naming Use descriptive file naming indicating that the document is redacted.

In cases where organizations are dealing with routine redaction, it is important to have written procedures. It is important that they be consistent particularly where several team members are handling sensitive documents.

When Should You Redact?

Examples of such situations are organizing legal records to be publicly delivered, distributing agreements to third parties that are not supposed to see some specific terms, publishing records in response to a FOIA request, and deleting personal data before sending forms or templates.

The antecedents differ, yet the method is the same. In case it is the medical history of the client you are safeguarding or you are just clearing your phone number out of a resume template you are posting on the Internet, correct redacting is the only way to make sure that anonymity is, in fact, anonymous.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I redact PDFs on my phone?

Yes, Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile application has basic redaction and a subscription. Nonetheless, in the case of important documents, I would consider desktop software as a way to have a better control.

Is redaction reversible?

No. Appropriately experienced redaction forever removes information. You should always have an unedited copy in case you require the original contents in future.

Is redaction counting printing and re-scanning?

Not reliably. Sometimes OCR technology is capable of retrieving a text of scanned document, and this technique lowers the document quality to a considerable level.

Is it possible to delete password-protected PDF?

First, you will have to edit the document with the password. Standard redaction procedures are used once it has been unlocked.

What is the way to check redaction worked?

Attempt to clarify the redacted section and paste it to a text editor. In case nothing presents itself, the redaction has succeeded. Another check is document properties of any remaining metadata.

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