What should I use for legal or GDPR-compliant redaction?

Adobe Acrobat Pro (Redact tool), Foxit PDF Redactor, or a document management system with certified redaction. These tools remove the underlying data from the file structure, not just overlay it visually.

Can I redact images as well as text?

Yes. The black overlay is drawn over any area you select, regardless of what is underneath. Text, images, and mixed content are all covered the same way.

Will the redacted content appear if someone prints the PDF?

The overlay is visible in all standard viewers and survives printing. Someone printing the document will see the black box, not the content beneath it. However, if someone extracts the file's internal data before printing, they can still access the original content.

Can I redact multiple pages in one session?

Yes. You can add redaction boxes to any number of pages in a single session. Navigate between pages, add boxes wherever needed, and download the fully redacted PDF in one go.

Is it really free to redact PDFs?

Yes, completely free with no daily limits and no watermarks on the output. No subscription required.

What is the file size limit?

Each PDF can be up to 50MB on the free tier.

Redact PDF Online Free

Draw black boxes over sensitive text, images, or any other content in a PDF before sharing. Simple, fast, and no software required. No account needed, files deleted within 2 hours.

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Up to 50 MB

Enterprise-grade security

Files auto-delete

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How to Redact PDF

1
Upload your PDF
Click the upload area or drag and drop your PDF. Any PDF version is supported.
2
Draw your redaction boxes
Select the redaction tool and draw boxes over any text, image, or area you want to black out. Add redaction boxes to as many pages as you need.
3
Download your redacted PDF
Download the PDF with all sensitive content permanently blacked out and embedded into the file.

Why use PDFHaul
to redact PDFs?

Redact any content on any page

Draw redaction boxes over text, images, tables, signatures, or any visible content. Not limited to text-layer redaction, it covers anything on the page visually.

Multi-page redaction in one session

Navigate between pages and add redaction boxes across the entire document before downloading. No need to redact one page at a time.

Redactions embedded in the PDF

The black boxes are part of the document on download. The redacted areas are not a visual layer that can be toggled off. They are baked into the file.

Files deleted in 2 hours

Your documents are automatically purged from our servers within 2 hours. Not stored, not analysed, not sold.

Who redacts
PDFs?

Redaction is used any time a document needs to be shared with sensitive information removed, in legal, compliance, HR, and healthcare contexts.

Legal discovery and disclosure

Redact privileged communications, personal identifiers, and confidential information from documents produced in litigation or regulatory investigations before sharing with opposing counsel.

GDPR and data privacy compliance

Remove names, contact details, national ID numbers, and other personal data from documents before sharing externally or responding to subject access requests. Reduce your compliance exposure when sharing records.

HR and employee records

Share a sanitised version of an employee record or performance review with a third party without exposing personal details, salary figures, or other sensitive fields that are not relevant to the request.

Healthcare and patient documents

Remove patient names, identifiers, and medical record numbers from documents before using them for training, research, or sharing with non-clinical staff who do not need access to the full record.

How PDF redaction works

It is important to understand what PDFHaul's redaction tool does and what it does not do, because the difference has legal and compliance implications.

PDFHaul applies a visual overlay: a solid black rectangle drawn over the selected area. This is stored as a flattened annotation on the page. It covers the content visually in any PDF viewer.

This is not true redaction. The underlying text, image data, or other content beneath the black box still exists in the PDF file. Someone with the right tools can extract the hidden content from the file structure. For ordinary purposes, this is sufficient: the content is not readable by opening the file normally, and the overlay survives printing.

True redaction, as required for legal filings, GDPR compliance, FOIA releases, and other regulated contexts, requires removing the underlying data from the file entirely, not just covering it. Adobe Acrobat Pro's Redact tool, Foxit Redactor, and similar enterprise tools perform true redaction. They remove the character data, image pixels, and all other traces of the redacted content from the file, then rebuild the PDF without that data.

If you are preparing documents for a legal proceeding, a regulatory submission, or a privacy compliance workflow, do not use visual overlay redaction. Use a true redaction tool. For internal use, sharing drafts, or removing information before informal distribution, PDFHaul's overlay approach is practical and fast.

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about redacting PDFs online

It covers it. PDFHaul applies a visual overlay, a solid black rectangle drawn over the selected area. The text or image beneath the black box still exists in the PDF file. This is sufficient for most informal purposes but is not appropriate for legal or compliance workflows requiring verifiable data removal.