When is it safe to use?

For visual tidying, hiding a distracting element, masking part of a screenshot, covering something in a document that isn't sensitive. Not for anything you'd be harmed by disclosing: personal data, financial details, medical or privileged information. Those need software that performs true redaction by removing the underlying content, with the output verified before it's shared.

Does covering the content at least keep the file private in transit?

Yes, but that's a different guarantee. Nothing is uploaded, pdf-lib paints the blocks and rebuilds the file in this tab, so the document itself never crosses a network. That protects it in transit; it does nothing to change what's still inside the file once you hand it to someone.

Cover Content in a PDF

No upload · runs in your browser

This does not delete the text underneath

The block is painted on top of the page. The original text stays in the file and a recipient can select, copy, or extract it. Do not use this to hide personal, financial, medical, privileged, or otherwise sensitive information — it will still be there.

Drop a PDF to cover contentOpens in the editor. Blocks are painted on top; the text underneath remains in the fileSelect PDF No upload · processed locally · auto-deleted

How it works

How to redact a PDF privately in your browser

Drop a PDF and place solid blocks over areas of a page in the editor, then save a copy with those blocks baked in. Useful for visual tidying — masking a distracting element or covering something in a screenshot.

This is not true redaction: the block is painted over the page and the underlying text remains in the file, where a recipient can still extract it. Do not use it to hide personal, financial, privileged, or otherwise sensitive information. Everything runs in your browser, so the document is never uploaded.

FAQ

No — and this is the most important thing to understand about the tool. It draws a solid rectangle on top of the page; the original text stays in the file beneath it, and anyone who receives the document can select it, copy it, or pull it out with ordinary PDF software. Think of the block as ink laid over paper, not as deletion.

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