Redact
Box off the parts that should not leave the office. On export, those pages are re-rendered to an image, so the text underneath is gone from the file, not just hidden under a black bar.
Drop the PDF you want to redact
or choose a file
—
—Export settings
Questions people actually ask
Redaction here destroys text rather than covering it. Every page you box is re-rendered as an image on export, so the characters underneath are gone from the file — a black rectangle is only paint, and the original string stays in the content stream.
Does redacting delete the text, or just hide it?
It deletes it. A boxed page is re-rendered as an image, so no live text layer survives to be selected, copied, searched, or recovered with Ctrl+A. Text under a black bar is still text; it is only invisible.
Can I redact a scanned PDF?
Yes, and it costs nothing extra. A scan has no text layer to begin with, so boxed pages are re-rendered with the boxes burned in, and the pages you did not box are copied through untouched.
Does redacting strip the document's metadata too?
Yes. Export removes the Info dictionary (title, author, producing software, timestamps), the XMP metadata stream, and private PieceInfo data. What remains is the page content you chose to keep.
Why does the redacted page turn into an image?
Re-rendering is the only operation that removes characters instead of covering them. Deleting the text instructions from a content stream leaves their positions behind, which shows up as a gap that still tells you how wide the hidden string was. A redrawn page carries no such trace.
Can I redact one line and leave the rest of the page readable?
You can, but the unit is the page, not the box. Only boxed pages are re-rendered; every other page is copied as-is and stays selectable and searchable. Draw one box on a page and that whole page becomes an image — the unboxed parts stay readable but can no longer be selected or copied.