Draw redaction boxes over any area or search for text to redact across all pages at once — free, unlimited, and entirely in your browser. No upload. No account. Undo before you save.
PDF files
Redact a PDF for free: open it here, draw boxes over anything you want hidden, or search for a word, name or number to black out every match, then download. Redaction runs in your browser, so the file is never uploaded, and there is no sign-up or watermark. The downloaded PDF is rebuilt with every page as an image and the black boxes painted in, so the covered text is gone for good — but the rest of the text is no longer selectable or searchable, and links, form fields and the original metadata are not kept.
How it works
The full upload-redact-download workflow takes most users under 60 seconds. The tool runs entirely in your browser — drop your file, mark what to remove, and download a permanently redacted PDF.
Click to browse or drag and drop your PDF onto the upload area. Your file loads locally in your browser and is not sent to any server. There is no file-size cap beyond your device's memory.
You have two redaction methods, and you can use both on the same document. Draw redaction boxes by clicking and dragging to draw a black rectangle over any area of any page — text, images, signatures, addresses, or any other content. Or use search & redact: type a word, phrase, or name and the tool finds every instance throughout the entire document and marks all of them for redaction simultaneously. Before saving, you can undo or redo any individual redaction action.
Click Apply Redactions. Your PDF is rebuilt with each page as an image and the black boxes painted in, so the content under them is permanently gone from the file, not just visually covered. The downloaded file opens normally in any PDF viewer; its text is no longer selectable or searchable.
Definition
PDF redaction is the permanent removal of text or images from a PDF file at the file structure level — the content no longer exists in the document. This is fundamentally different from three things that look similar but are not redaction:
True redaction removes the content itself. OneClickPDF does this by redrawing every page as an image with the black boxes painted in, so nothing under a box survives anywhere in the downloaded file. This is what regulators, legal teams, and compliance officers expect for GDPR disclosures, FOIA responses, court filings, and medical records.
Two redaction methods
Use both methods on the same document. Draw boxes for visual content; search for repeated text. Every action is undoable before you save.
Click and drag to draw black rectangular boxes over any area of any PDF page. Works on text, images, signatures, photographs, handwritten annotations, tables, or any visual content. Draw overlapping boxes, cover partial lines, or black out an entire section. Each box is a discrete undoable action before saving.
Type any word, phrase, or name into the search field. The tool finds every match across every page simultaneously and marks all instances for redaction. Essential for multi-page documents where a name, NI number, or account number appears repeatedly — ensuring nothing is left behind by a manual box-drawing pass.
Privacy by design
Every major competitor — SmallPDF, Sejda, iLovePDF — uploads your PDF to a remote server to process it. Your document leaves your device and sits on a third-party server. SmallPDF deletes files after one hour; iLovePDF processes on “secure servers”. These are policy-based guarantees.
OneClickPDF is architecturally different. Redaction runs entirely inside your browser using your device’s own processor. Your PDF never leaves your device. There is no upload, no server, no data transmission, and no retention policy to rely on — because there is nothing to retain. For documents subject to legal privilege, HIPAA, UK GDPR, or any data protection requirement, this architecture provides a stronger guarantee than any deletion policy can.
Why choose ours?
Capability-by-capability: of the tools in this table, OneClickPDF is the one that is fully free, runs redaction in your browser, supports both methods, and offers undo/redo.
| Feature | Ours | SmallPDF | Sejda | Adobe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free & unlimited | Paid | 3/hour | Paid | |
| No account needed | ||||
| Files stay in browser | ||||
| Draw redaction boxes | ||||
| Search & redact text | ||||
| Permanently destroys text | ||||
| Undo / redo |
Competitor information was accurate at time of publication and may have changed.
Cross-platform
OneClickPDF’s redaction tool works in any modern browser — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge — on Mac, Windows, and Linux. No application downloads or plugins are required. All processing stays on your device regardless of platform.
Redact PDF online free in your browser. Permanently remove names, account numbers, and sensitive text via true page rasterization. No upload, no account.
Permanently remove sensitive data from PDFs with true redaction. Not just a black box — the underlying text is destroyed. Free in your browser.
Spot every change between contract versions with pixel-level comparison. Highlights additions, deletions, and subtle edits — free and private in your browser.
Drop your file, mark what to remove, download — under 60 seconds, no account, no upload.
Start redacting now
Sign PDF Online Free
Draw your signature, type it, or upload an image — then place it anywhere on your PDF in seconds. Legally valid under the ESIGN Act (US), eIDAS (EU), and Electronic Communications Act (UK). No account is needed.
Protect PDF
Password-protect a PDF with AES encryption (128-bit by default, 256-bit optional) and choose whether it can be printed or copied — in your browser.
Flatten PDF
Bake all annotations and form fields permanently into the PDF.
Edit PDF
Click any text in a PDF and change it, in its original font where possible. Add text, images, shapes, links, and signatures — no upload, no software to install.
