Free PDF Redaction Tools Compared (2025): Which Ones Actually Work

When you search "redact PDF free," you'll find dozens of tools promising to hide sensitive information. We tested eight of the most popular options to see which ones actually remove content from PDFs—and which ones just cover it up.

The results were concerning. Most tools that claim to "redact" actually just add black boxes on top of text. The sensitive data remains fully extractable.

Here's what we found.

Our Testing Methodology

For each tool, we:

1. Created a test PDF containing fake but realistic sensitive data (SSN, credit card numbers, addresses, medical information)
2. Used the tool's redaction feature to hide the sensitive content
3. Attempted to extract the hidden text using three methods:
- Copy-paste from under the redaction
- Ctrl+F search for known terms
- PDF text extraction via pdftotext

A pass means no hidden text was recoverable. A fail means we extracted some or all of the "redacted" content.

The Tools We Tested

1. Adobe Acrobat Reader (Free Version)

Adobe's free Reader includes annotation tools but not true redaction. The "Rectangle" tool draws black boxes that look like redactions but are just annotations sitting on top of text.

We easily extracted all hidden content via copy-paste. Search also found the "redacted" terms.

To get real redaction, you need Adobe Acrobat Pro ($20/month), which has a separate "Redact" tool that actually removes content. The free version cannot safely redact.

2. Smallpdf

Smallpdf's "Edit PDF" feature lets you draw black rectangles over text. Despite the professional interface, these are just visual overlays.

Copy-paste worked perfectly to extract hidden text. The underlying content stream was untouched.

To their credit, Smallpdf never claims this is redaction—it's just an editing feature. But users often mistake it for secure redaction.

3. PDF-XChange Editor (Free Version)

This popular Windows PDF editor includes a "Redact" menu item, which sounds promising. However, the free version's "redaction" creates annotations, not true redactions.

All hidden content was extractable via copy-paste and search.

The paid version ($46) offers proper redaction that modifies the content stream.

4. Sejda PDF

Sejda's "Whiteout" and shape tools create visual covers over text. Despite the term "whiteout" suggesting erasure, the text remains in the PDF.

Standard extraction methods revealed all "hidden" content.

5. iLovePDF

iLovePDF's editor adds black rectangles as annotations. Copy-paste immediately revealed the hidden text.

Like others, this tool is fine for general editing but not for security-sensitive redaction.

6. PDFescape

The free online PDF editor creates rectangular annotations over content. Text remained fully searchable and extractable.

7. Preview (macOS Built-in)

Mac's Preview app lets you draw black rectangles using the Shapes tool. These are annotations—the text persists underneath.

Interestingly, if you "Print to PDF" after adding the shapes, the rectangles become part of the content. But the text still exists unless you take additional steps to flatten to images.

8. ActuallyRedactPDF

Full disclosure: this is our tool. We built it specifically because we were frustrated with the failures above.

[ActuallyRedactPDF](/) works by flattening the PDF to images, then allowing you to redact, then outputting a new PDF with no text layer whatsoever.

None of our extraction methods recovered any content:
- Copy-paste yielded nothing (no text layer exists)
- Search found nothing
- pdftotext output was empty

The trade-off is that the output PDF isn't text-searchable—it's essentially a scanned document. For security-focused use cases, this is acceptable.

Summary Table

| Tool | Removes Content? | Searchable After? | Copy-Paste Works? | Free? |
|------|-----------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------|
| Adobe Reader (Free) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Smallpdf | No | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| PDF-XChange (Free) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sejda | No | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| iLovePDF | No | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| PDFescape | No | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| Preview (macOS) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ActuallyRedactPDF | Yes | No | No | Yes (5/month) |

Why Most Tools Fail

There's a fundamental reason most PDF tools don't truly redact: real redaction requires rewriting the PDF's internal structure.

Adding an annotation is easy—it's like placing a sticker on a document. Removing content from the PDF's content stream requires:

1. Parsing the PDF structure
2. Identifying text objects at specific positions
3. Removing those objects from the content stream
4. Reconstructing the PDF without them
5. Stripping metadata that might reference the removed content

This is complex development work. For most PDF tools, the annotation approach is "good enough" for their typical use cases. They're not designed for security-critical redaction.

What About Paid Options?

Several paid tools do offer genuine redaction:

Adobe Acrobat Pro ($20/month): The "Redact" tool (under Tools > Redact) actually removes content when you apply the redaction. You must also use "Remove Hidden Information" to strip metadata.

Nitro Pro (~$180 one-time): Includes content removal redaction.

Foxit PDF Editor (~$150/year): Proper redaction feature.

These tools are overkill if you occasionally need to redact a document. But if you're handling sensitive documents regularly, they're worth the investment.

The DIY Alternative

If you don't want to pay and don't trust free tools, here's a guaranteed method:

1. Print to images: Use "Print to File" as high-resolution images (300 DPI minimum)
2. Edit images: Open in any image editor, draw black boxes
3. Combine to PDF: Merge images into a new PDF

This works because you're converting vector text to raster images. There is no text data in the final file—just pixels. The "redaction" is now part of the image itself.

Downsides: time-consuming, and the output isn't text-searchable. But it's foolproof.

How to Verify Redaction

Whatever tool you use, verify before sharing:

1. The copy test: Open the PDF, try to select text under the redactions. If you can highlight and copy anything, it failed.

2. The search test: Ctrl+F for terms you know were in the redacted areas. Matches mean failure.

3. The extraction test: Run through pdftotext or an online PDF converter. Check the output for sensitive content.

We built a free redaction checker that automates these tests. Upload your document and it'll tell you if content is still extractable.

Recommendations

For occasional, low-stakes redaction: ActuallyRedactPDF (free tier, 5/month) or the print-to-image method.

For regular document redaction: Adobe Acrobat Pro or equivalent paid tool with proper redaction features.

What to avoid: Using annotation tools (rectangles, shapes, highlights) for anything security-sensitive.

The key insight: visual obscurity is not the same as data removal. If the text exists in the file, it can be extracted. True redaction means the text no longer exists.

Need to redact a PDF right now? [Try ActuallyRedactPDF](/) — we remove content, not just hide it.