Don't hand your personal data to an AI.
Redact it first, permanently.
Redact your docs
before AI sees them.
Contracts, payslips, medical letters: people paste them into ChatGPT and Claude every day, and every name, address and account number goes along with them. You can't un-send that.
Redact those details first, from a PDF, a Word file, a screenshot or a photo of a document. No account, no upload: it all happens in this tab.
Redact names, addresses and account numbers from a PDF, Word file or photo. Nothing leaves your device.
- No account needed
- Nothing is uploaded
- Works offline
- Verified after export
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Get started, it's freeRedact PDFs and mask screenshots, photos, Word docs and text files
Check out our guidesHow to redact a PDF online, free
- Choose a PDF, Word file, image or text
- Mark the names and numbers to redact
- Download a clean, verified copy
How to redact a PDF: FAQ
Whatever you call it (redacting a PDF, masking your docs, blacking out text in a photo), the job is the same: take the sensitive part out before the file leaves your hands. maskyourdocs does that for a PDF, a Word file, an image or a text file, entirely in this browser tab.
How do I redact a PDF?
Press Get started and choose the PDF. Drag a box over each name or number, or switch to Select text and sweep the words. To catch every copy of a value, type it into Find text and press Mask all. Then press Export: the redacted pages are rebuilt so the text is removed from the file, not just covered. Full guide: how to redact a PDF.
Can I redact a PDF for free, online?
Yes. maskyourdocs is a free PDF redaction tool with no account, no watermark, no page limit and no trial. It runs online in your browser, but the PDF is never uploaded: the redaction happens on your own device.
How do I redact a PDF without Adobe Acrobat Pro?
Adobe's Redact tool is only in the paid Acrobat Pro; the free Acrobat Reader can't redact. maskyourdocs does the same job in any modern browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android or iPhone, with nothing to install and nothing to pay.
How do I redact text or information in a PDF?
If you can select the words, choose Select text and sweep them; each selection becomes a black bar. For a name or number that repeats, use Find text and Mask all. For signatures, photos, stamps or QR codes, use Draw box. Scanned PDFs work the same way with Draw box.
What does it mean to redact a PDF?
To redact a PDF is to permanently remove sensitive content, such as names, account numbers or ID numbers, so it can't be read, searched or copied back out. The result usually shows a black bar where the content was. Redacting is different from hiding: the information has to be gone from the file itself.
Can I redact a PDF on a Mac, iPhone or Android phone?
Yes. It works in Safari, Chrome, Edge and Firefox on a Mac, a Windows PC, an iPhone, an iPad or an Android phone. On a phone, drag with your finger to draw a box, and tap a bar to move, resize or remove it.
Is redacting the same as masking a document?
Mostly, yes. Masking your docs, redacting a PDF and blacking out text all mean taking the sensitive part out before the file leaves your hands. maskyourdocs uses a true redaction method for each format, so masked content is removed, not just covered.
How do I mask a PDF online for free?
The same way you redact one: press Get started, choose the PDF, mark each name or number with a box or Select text, then press Export. Full guide to masking data in a PDF.
Can I mask or redact my Aadhaar number in a PDF?
Yes. Open your e-Aadhaar PDF (it asks for the PDF password), draw a box over the first 8 digits wherever the number appears, and cover the QR code if it doesn't need to be scanned. Export, and only the last 4 digits remain. Step-by-step Aadhaar masking guide.
Which file types can I redact or mask?
PDF, DOCX (Word), screenshots and photos in PNG, JPEG, WebP or HEIC, and text formats like TXT, MD (Markdown), CSV and JSON. Each gets a redaction method suited to how it stores text.
Is anything uploaded when I redact a document?
No. The file never leaves this tab. There's no server for it to go to: everything, including the export, happens on your device.
Why isn't a black box over the text enough to redact a PDF?
A black box drawn over a PDF usually leaves the original text sitting underneath it, recoverable by copy-pasting or opening the raw file. maskyourdocs flattens redacted pages to an image and re-checks the output, so what's redacted is actually gone, not just hidden.
