PDF Redactor
Private, offline redaction for Windows. Unlike tools that hide text (leaving it recoverable), PDF Redactor renders pages to images — PII is permanently destroyed. Bulk process entire folders at 270 PDFs/minute. No data collection, no cloud uploads.
Why PDF Redactor?
True Security
Renders to images then draws black boxes. Text is permanently destroyed, not just hidden in PDF metadata.
Lightning Fast
270 PDFs per minute (16,000/hour). Process thousands of documents overnight on standard hardware.
Zero False Positives
Pixel-perfect accuracy with comprehensive testing. Redacts ONLY what you specify — never touches safe text.
GDPR/HIPAA Ready
Built for production compliance workflows. Legal discovery, medical records, HR docs, financial statements.
£2.99 Lifetime
One-time payment, unlimited PDFs forever. Compare to Adobe or enterprise tools at $300+/year.
100% Private & Local
Everything runs on your PC. No cloud uploads, no data collection, no telemetry. Your documents never leave your computer.
Automatic PII detection and redaction
Automatically finds and redacts names, SSNs, email addresses, phone numbers, credit cards, addresses, dates of birth, IP addresses, IBANs, and custom keywords. Built for practical compliance work with bulk batch processing for entire folders. Optional OCR add-on handles scanned PDFs. Everything stays on your machine — no data is ever collected or uploaded.
What it does
Name Redaction
First, middle, last names with variant and alias matching.
SSN Detection
US Social Security Numbers (XXX-XX-XXXX).
UK National Insurance
NI number format (AB 12 34 56 C).
Phone Numbers
US, UK, and international formats.
Email Addresses
All standard email address formats.
Credit Cards
Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and others.
IBANs
International bank account numbers.
Addresses
Street address pattern detection.
IP Addresses
IPv4 address detection.
Dates of Birth
DD/MM/YYYY, MM-DD-YY, YYYY/MM/DD, and more.
File Paths
Windows, Linux, and macOS file paths.
Custom Keywords
User-defined words and phrases.
Face Blurring
AI-powered face detection and blur (optional install).
Metadata Stripping
Removes author, title, and all PDF metadata.
NER Detection
spaCy named entity recognition for names (optional install).
Compliance Reports
Auto-generated PDF report of all redactions.
Bulk Batch Processing
Process entire folders of PDFs in one go. Queue thousands of documents overnight.
OCR for Scanned PDFs
Extract text from scanned/image-only PDFs before redaction (optional install).
EXIF / GPS Detection
Flags embedded images containing location data.
Get Started
7-day free trial. £2.99 lifetime license — no subscriptions, unlimited PDFs forever.
FAQ
How is this different from other PDF redaction tools?
Most tools just hide text in PDF metadata (leaving it recoverable with simple tools). PDF Redactor renders pages to images and draws black boxes — the original text is permanently destroyed, not hidden. This is true secure redaction.
How fast is batch processing?
PDF Redactor processes 270 PDFs per minute (16,000 per hour) on standard hardware. Process thousands of documents overnight on a single PC, or scale across multiple machines for faster throughput.
Is my data private? Does PDF Redactor collect any data?
PDF Redactor collects zero data. No telemetry, no analytics, no usage tracking. Everything runs locally on your PC — your documents are never uploaded anywhere. The app works fully offline after download.
Will it overwrite my original PDFs?
No. It creates new redacted PDFs in a separate "redacted" folder with "_redacted" suffix. Your originals are never modified or deleted.
What happens after the 7-day trial?
The app prompts for activation. One-time payment of £2.99 (GBP) or $3.50 (USD) unlocks unlimited lifetime use — no subscriptions, no recurring fees. Activation is offline and tied to 1 PC.
Is it suitable for GDPR/HIPAA compliance?
Yes. PDF Redactor uses image-based redaction (permanently destroying text) and processes documents locally (no cloud uploads). Widely used for legal discovery, medical records, HR documents, and financial statements.
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
Yes — with the optional OCR add-on. OCR extracts text from scanned/image-only PDFs so they can be redacted. Use the free text-layer checker to see if your PDF needs OCR.