# Redact PDF · Paperdost > Your paperwork friend. Your files never leave your device. Black out or blur names, numbers and any text. The text is deleted, not covered. Free, no sign-up and no watermark. It runs entirely in the browser: files are opened on the user's device, never uploaded to a server, and the site keeps working offline after the first visit. Paperdost (पेपरदोस्त, "paper friend") is made by Umesh Malik (https://umesh-malik.com/). Last updated 2026-11-10. ## How to use it 1. Choose or drop the PDF. Enter its password if it has one. 2. Type the words to hide, or tick what to find automatically: emails, phone numbers, UPI IDs, Aadhaar and card numbers, bank and tax codes, dates and other long numbers. 3. Click any text in the preview to hide or show it, and draw boxes over photos, signatures or scanned areas. 4. Download. The file is checked before you get it. ## Pages - [Redact a PDF](https://paperdost.com/redact/): Redact a PDF in your browser: black out or blur names, account numbers and emails, or keep only chosen bank rows. Hidden text is deleted. Nothing is uploaded. - [Check a redacted PDF](https://paperdost.com/redact/check-redaction/): Find text under black boxes, metadata, comments, form data, attachments and earlier versions in a redacted PDF, then download a clean copy. Nothing is uploaded. - [Remove PDF metadata](https://paperdost.com/redact/remove-pdf-metadata/): See and remove a PDF's author, title, software, comments, form data, attachments, bookmarks and earlier versions in your browser. The file is never uploaded. - [Mask an Aadhaar card](https://paperdost.com/redact/redact-aadhaar-card/): Hide your Aadhaar number, phone and date of birth in an e-Aadhaar or scanned PDF before sharing it. Handles password-protected files. Nothing is uploaded. - [Redact a bank statement](https://paperdost.com/redact/redact-bank-statement/): Hide your account number, UPI IDs and private transactions in a bank statement PDF, or keep only rows like salary or rent. In your browser, never uploaded. - [Black out text in a PDF](https://paperdost.com/redact/black-out-text-in-pdf/): Black out words, names and numbers in a PDF permanently. The text under each bar is deleted, not just covered, and the rest stays sharp. Nothing is uploaded. - [Blur text in a PDF](https://paperdost.com/redact/blur-pdf/): Blur names, numbers and any text in a PDF. The blurred text is deleted underneath, so it can't be copied or un-blurred. Free, in your browser, nothing uploaded. - [हिन्दी](https://paperdost.com/redact/hi/): PDF में नाम, खाता नंबर, आधार नंबर, फ़ोन और कोई भी शब्द हमेशा के लिए छिपाएँ। फ़ाइल आपके ब्राउज़र में ही खुलती है, कहीं अपलोड नहीं होती। - [Redaction की जाँच (हिन्दी)](https://paperdost.com/redact/check-redaction/hi/): Redact की हुई PDF में काले बॉक्स के नीचे बचा टेक्स्ट, मेटाडेटा, कमेंट और पुराने वर्शन ढूँढें, फिर साफ़ कॉपी लें। कुछ अपलोड नहीं होता। ## Questions and answers ### Is my PDF uploaded anywhere? No. The PDF is opened inside your browser tab. The site's security policy blocks the page from sending data to any server, and it works offline once loaded. ### Can someone copy the text from under the black bars? No. Hidden text is deleted from the PDF itself, not just covered. After export the file is re-read, and any page where hidden text could still be extracted is saved as an image instead. ### How do I redact a bank statement and keep only some transactions? Choose "Hide everything except matching rows", tick "Only hide rows inside tables", and type the words that identify the transactions to keep, such as salary or rent. Headers, balances and footers stay visible. ### Does the redacted PDF stay sharp and searchable? Yes. Only the hidden text is removed; the rest of the page keeps its original vector text, so it stays sharp, selectable and searchable. ### Can I redact password-protected PDFs? Yes. Enter the password when asked. The redacted copy is saved without a password, so share it through a channel you trust. ### How to redact a PDF for free? Open the PDF here, type the words to hide or tick what to find automatically, then download. It is free, runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. ### How can I tell if a PDF redaction worked? Open the PDF here and type what was supposed to be hidden. The checker searches the text anyone can copy out, and outlines text that sits under a cover where it can't be seen. ### Why can I still copy text from under a black box? Most PDF editors draw a rectangle over the text without deleting it. The text is still in the file, so selecting or copying it reveals it. Use the cleaned copy here, or redact again with a tool that deletes the text. ### What does the redaction checker look for? It finds text under boxes and pictures, document metadata, comments, form data, attachments and earlier versions saved inside the file. It can't read words inside scanned images. ### Does removing metadata change how the PDF looks? No. Pages keep their text, images and links. Only data that isn't part of the visible page is removed, plus text that was hidden under covers. ### How to remove metadata from a PDF? Drop the PDF here, review the list of what it holds, and click Download a cleaned copy. Author, software, comments, form data, attachments and earlier versions are removed. ### What metadata does a PDF contain? It can hold the title, author, subject, keywords, creating software, dates, XMP data, comments, form values, bookmarks and attached files. Edited files may also keep earlier versions. ### What is the password of an e-Aadhaar PDF? The first four letters of your name as printed on the card, in capitals, followed by your year of birth, for example SURE1990. ### Is it safe to mask Aadhaar online? Here nothing is uploaded: the PDF is opened and masked inside your browser tab, and the site works offline once loaded. ### Is it safe to share masked Aadhaar? UIDAI's masked Aadhaar shows only the last four digits. This tool hides the full number by default, and the hidden digits are deleted from the PDF, not just covered. ### How do I hide transactions on a bank statement? Choose "Hide everything except matching rows", tick "Only hide rows inside tables", and type the words that identify the transactions to keep. Everything else in the table is hidden, while headers, balances and footers stay visible. ### How to hide account number in bank statement PDF? Open the statement here; account numbers, card numbers and UPI IDs are selected for you. Click any text to hide or show it, then download. ### Can black boxes in a PDF be removed? Not here. The text under each bar is deleted from the file, so removing or moving the box shows nothing. Boxes drawn in ordinary PDF editors often leave the text behind. ### How to black out text in a PDF? Open the PDF, type the words to hide or click text in the preview, then download. The bars are applied permanently and the text under them is deleted. ### Can blurred text in a PDF be recovered? Not with this tool. The text under the blur is deleted from the PDF, and the blur is drawn from a shrunk copy of the area, so there is no detail left to sharpen. ### How to blur text in a PDF? Open the PDF here, type the words to blur or click text in the preview, then download. The text under the blur is deleted from the file. ### क्या मेरी PDF कहीं अपलोड होती है? नहीं। PDF आपके ब्राउज़र टैब में ही खुलती और बदली जाती है। साइट किसी सर्वर को डेटा नहीं भेज सकती, और एक बार खुलने के बाद ऑफ़लाइन भी चलती है। ### क्या काली पट्टी के नीचे का टेक्स्ट कॉपी हो सकता है? नहीं। छिपाया गया टेक्स्ट PDF से मिटा दिया जाता है। डाउनलोड से पहले फ़ाइल दोबारा पढ़ी जाती है, और जिस पेज पर टेक्स्ट बचा हो उसे तस्वीर के रूप में सहेजा जाता है। ### ई-आधार PDF का पासवर्ड क्या होता है? आपके नाम के पहले चार अक्षर अंग्रेज़ी के बड़े अक्षरों में और उसके बाद जन्म का साल, जैसे SURE1990। ### कैसे पता करें कि PDF का redaction ठीक से हुआ या नहीं? PDF यहाँ खोलें और वह लिखें जो छिपा होना चाहिए था। जाँच उस टेक्स्ट में खोजती है जिसे कोई भी कॉपी कर सकता है, और जो टेक्स्ट किसी ढक्कन के नीचे है जहाँ दिख नहीं सकता, उसकी आउटलाइन बना देती है। ### काले बॉक्स के नीचे का टेक्स्ट कॉपी क्यों हो जाता है? ज़्यादातर PDF एडिटर टेक्स्ट को मिटाए बिना उसके ऊपर बस एक आयत बना देते हैं। टेक्स्ट फ़ाइल में बना रहता है, इसलिए उसे चुनने या कॉपी करने पर वह दिख जाता है। यहाँ की साफ़ की हुई कॉपी लें, या ऐसे टूल से दोबारा redact करें जो टेक्स्ट मिटाता है। ### Redaction checker क्या-क्या देखता है? वह बॉक्स और तस्वीरों के नीचे का टेक्स्ट, दस्तावेज़ का मेटाडेटा, कमेंट, फ़ॉर्म डेटा, अटैचमेंट और फ़ाइल में सेव पुराने वर्शन ढूँढता है। स्कैन की गई इमेज के अंदर के शब्द वह नहीं पढ़ सकता। ## Other free tools from Paperdost - [Compress PDF](https://paperdost.com/compress-pdf/): Shrink a PDF to the size a portal asks for, like 200 KB or 1 MB. - [Resize photo to KB](https://paperdost.com/resize-photo/): Photos and signatures at exact KB and pixels for exam and job forms. - [Unlock PDF](https://paperdost.com/unlock-pdf/): Remove or add a password on bank statements, e-Aadhaar and payslips. - [Merge and split PDF](https://paperdost.com/merge-pdf/): Combine, split, reorder and rotate pages. - [JPG to PDF](https://paperdost.com/jpg-to-pdf/): Turn phone photos of documents into one PDF, or a PDF into images. - [HEIC to JPG](https://paperdost.com/heic-to-jpg/): Open iPhone HEIC and HEIF photos anywhere by turning them into JPG or PNG. - [Watermark ID copy](https://paperdost.com/watermark/): Stamp “For KYC with … only” and a date across Aadhaar or PAN copies. - [Passport photo](https://paperdost.com/passport-photo/): Crop to 35×45 mm or 2×2 in, white background, print sheet. - [Sign PDF](https://paperdost.com/sign-pdf/): Draw or upload a signature, place it and add the date. - [Remove photo location](https://paperdost.com/photo-location/): Strip GPS and camera details from photos before you share them. - [UPI and Wi-Fi QR](https://paperdost.com/qr/): Make a payment QR with an amount, or a Wi-Fi QR for guests.