Redact a PDF that stays redacted
Plenty of tools "redact" by drawing a black rectangle over the words and calling it a day; the text is still in the file, one copy-paste away. Here the text under the box is removed from the exported file itself, and if that can't be done cleanly the page is rebuilt from images so the pixels go too. Redacting also seems like the one PDF job you'd least want happening on someone else's server, so it doesn't: everything runs in your browser.
- Open the PDF. It loads in your browser and stays on your machine.
- Click Redact, then click a line or drag a box across everything that has to go. Vertical text works too.
- Clicked the wrong thing? Click the black box again to unmark it.
- Download. The text under each box is gone from the file, not hidden behind it.
Edit the text that's already there
Click a line and retype it. Handy for fixing a date or a typo without rebuilding the whole document in Word.
Signatures that stick around
Draw or upload your signature once and it's saved for next time. In your browser, mind, not on my server. I don't have a server.
Ticks, dates, shapes
Tick the boxes, cross things out, circle the important bit, drop in today's date.
Private by architecture
Not private as in "we promise". Private as in there's nowhere for your file to go. The whole editor is a static page.
Redaction that actually redacts
Black out a line and the text underneath is removed from the exported file. Not a black sticker over a secret, which is what some surprisingly expensive tools ship.
The download button just downloads
No watermark, no "upgrade to Pro", no three-documents-a-day meter.
Awkward PDFs still work
Files locked against editing get exported as a clean flattened copy instead of an error message.
Frequently asked questions
Is pdforever really free?
Properly free. No trial, no watermark, no features held hostage. It costs me very little to run, so it stays free. If it saved you a trip to the printer there's a Ko-fi link in the corner, but that's optional and always will be.
Do my files get uploaded anywhere?
No. The editor is a static page that does all its work in your browser. Your PDF is opened and saved on your own machine. There is no server for it to be uploaded to, which is also why this site will never have a data breach worth writing about.
Can I edit the text that is already in a PDF?
Yes, click any line and retype it. The replacement is drawn in the closest standard font, so on fancy backgrounds it won't be pixel-perfect, but on forms and ordinary documents it's usually hard to spot.
Can I sign a PDF with it?
Yes. Draw your signature with a mouse or finger, or upload a photo of one. It's the digital version of print-sign-scan, minus the printer. If you need a certified e-signature with an audit trail, this isn't that and doesn't pretend to be.
Can I redact a PDF with it?
Yes, properly: the black box removes the text underneath from the exported file rather than covering it, and scanned pages come out with the pixels painted over. It does not touch metadata like the document title, so give a sensitive file a quick once-over before it goes anywhere important.
Does it work with password-protected PDFs?
Usually. If the file opens at all you can edit it, and it exports as a flattened copy even when the original is locked against changes.
pdforever is built and looked after by one person. If it did the job, you can buy me a coffee.