Redact & Highlight PDF (Private, In-Browser)
This free tool lets you quickly black-box sensitive content, highlight important sections, add text notes, and erase background pixels—all locally in your browser. Your file never leaves your device.
Key Features
- No uploads: 100% client-side for privacy and speed.
- Redact: draw solid black boxes to permanently cover content in the exported PDF.
- Highlight: translucent overlays for emphasis.
- Text tool: click to place text; click again to edit (size & color included).
- Eraser: remove annotations or softly blend surrounding pixels on the page image.
- Zoom & navigation: live thumbnails, previous/next, and zoom controls.
- Undo: quick safety net with Ctrl/⌘ + Z.
- Clean export: generates a new PDF at a compact, low DPI (≈96) and preserves the original page aspect ratio—no stretching.
How to Use
- Upload your PDF (drag & drop or click the button).
- Pick a tool in the toolbar: Redact, Highlight, Text, or Eraser.
- Draw or click:
- Redact/Highlight: click-and-drag to draw a box.
- Text: click to place text, type in the popup, adjust size/color, then add.
- Eraser: hover to see the brush; click/drag to remove annotations or blend pixels.
- Reposition items by dragging them.
- Switch pages via thumbnails or the navigation buttons.
- Download the new PDF when finished.
Privacy
Processing is done locally in your browser. The exported PDF is rebuilt from page images with your edits applied; the original PDF text is not embedded in the output.
Notes & Limits
- Very large or complex PDFs may render more slowly on low-powered devices.
- Exports are image-based per page (ideal for visual redaction and sharing).