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

  1. Upload your PDF (drag & drop or click the button).
  2. Pick a tool in the toolbar: Redact, Highlight, Text, or Eraser.
  3. 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.
  4. Reposition items by dragging them.
  5. Switch pages via thumbnails or the navigation buttons.
  6. 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).