Top 7 Online Redaction Tools You Should Have a Try

Sometimes you may contain some confidential information in your documents. If you want to share the documents with others, you may want to find that private information and redact it before sharing. This post introduces the top 7 free online redaction tools to let you easily redact a document like Word document, PDF file, etc. online. Check the detailed information below.

You May Not Want To Miss: Adobe Redaction Solutions: Detailed and Specific Steps, How to Redact Document (Microsoft Word, Google Docs, PDF)

Comparison of 7 Online Redaction Tools

Product	Price	Policy	Limits	Share
Xodo	Free Version or $9/month	Your information will be completely erased after account cancellation	Only handle one PDF file a day with Free Version	Share to Google Drive
AvePDF	Free	All your traces will be erased after 30 minutes	Max file size is 128 MB	Share to Google Drive and DropBox
PDF24	Free	Clear your data regularly	No limits	Share to Google Drive, Email, Dropbox, and Fax
FreePDFRedactor	Free	encrypted with SSL	Up to 20 pages of PDF or files less than 5MB are allowed. Must complete redaction within 30 minutes	Direct download only
pdfFiller	Free Version or Plans ($8, $12, $15/month)	Use 256-bit encryption algorithms to protect your files	30-day free trial	Can be shared via Email, Dropbox, Google Drive, SMS, USPS, and Fax
Smallpdf	Free Version or $9/month	Determine if you are logged in by ip, browser, time, etc.	Functional limitations (free version)	Share to Dropbox or G Suite or generate a link for sharing
i2PDF	Free Version or Free	Delete your uploaded files after thirty minutes	No limits	Direct download only

Top 7 Online PDF Redaction Tools

1. Xodo

Another free online PDF redaction tool you can try is Xodo. You can use this tool to easily redact any information shown in your file. Xodo features private processing, so your file stays secure. No registration is needed to use its server.

How to Redact PDF Online:

1. You can go to Xodo PDF redactor in your browser to access this free online redaction tool.

2. Next, you can click the Select File button to select the PDF file from your computer and upload it to this tool. You can also drag and drop the PDF file to the specified field. As you can see, Xodo also lets you select a file from some iCloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Xodo Drive. If you want to select a file from the cloud, you can do it.
3. After you select the PDF file, you can see the Redact dashboard. You can click the Redact button to start redacting by marking text, regions, pages, or making a search.
4. After marking the target content, you can click the Redact All button to conduct the redacting operation.
5. When it finishes, you can download the new PDF file to your device. Your sensitive information in this PDF file is hidden now.

Price: Free and Premium ($9/month).

Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS.

2. AvePDF Redact PDF

To remove sensitive content in your PDF files, you can also try AvePDF. AvePDF allows you to easily remove any information in a PDF file by drawing opaque areas over the content and permanently removing the data behind it. After redaction, the redacted information cannot be retrieved.

This free online PDF redaction tool uses the best encryption methods to protect your data. All documents you uploaded will be deleted from its servers after 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can also delete the file manually after redacting.

Still, AvePDF also offers many other PDF solutions to help you deal with various PDF issues.

How to Redact PDF with AvePDF:

1. Go to the AvePDF redaction tool in your browser.

2. Click the Choose File button to upload a file from your computer. Alternatively, you can select and upload a PDF file from Google Drive, Dropbox, or a web address (URL).
3. Click the Add redaction marks button and use your mouse to make the redaction areas on your document.
4. Click Apply all redactions to redact the content in the PDF.
5. Download the redacted PDF file to your computer or save it to your cloud storage account.

Price: Free.

Supported Platforms: Online access.

3. PDF24 Tools

PDF24 Tools is another top free online redaction tool you can try. It lets you easily black out content in PDF files and make sensitive information hidden from others. This online tool is free to use and with no limits. You don’t need to install anything and you can just edit your files online. It protects the files’ security and removes them after a short time.

PDF Redaction Guide:

1. You can go to PDF24 Redation Tool in your browser.

2. Click the Choose File button to select and upload the file you want to redact. You can also drag and drop the file to the target file.
3. PDF24 Tools offers several tools to redact content in the PDF. You can blacken the content with a pen or with shapes. Click the Pen or Shape icon on the toolbar to mark the content for redaction.
4. After marking all content that you want to redact, you can click the Save PDF icon on the toolbar to save the redacted PDF file.

Price: Free

Support Platforms: Online access on all operating systems and browsers. You can also install the PDF24 Creator desktop app on your Windows PC and use it offline. It combines all PDF24 tools as a desktop application.

4. FreePDFRedactor

FreePDFRedactor is also a popular free online redaction tool that lets you easily redact sensitive information in your PDF file.

How It Works:

1. Go to the FreePDFRedactor Website in your browser. Scroll down to find the Redact a PDF Document section.

2. Click the “+” icon to upload your PDF document. The uploaded PDF document is limited to 5MB or 20 pages.
3. Select the text or other data you want to redact to remove it.
4. Download the redacted PDF document.

Price: Free.

Supported Platforms: Online access.

5. pdfFiller

pdfFiller also lets you redact text or images in a PDF file online for free. You can upload your PDF files to easily edit and redact them. It not only supports PDF formats but also supports many other file formats.

How to Redact PDF Online:

1. Go to the pdfFiller Website in your browser. Upload your PDF document.

2. Click the Blackout button under the Tools tab.
3. Drag your mouse to redact text or images in your document.
4. Save and download your document.

Price: Free and Paid (Basic: $8/month, Plus: $12/month, Premium: $15/month)

Platforms: Online web service. Also provide a desktop app for Windows or macOS and a mobile app for Android and iOS.

6. Smallpdf

SmallPDF is a free PDF tool that lets you easily convert and edit all your PDF files and solve your PDF issues from all aspects. You can find PDF convert, compress, edit, view, split, merge, sign, and many other PDF tools from SmallPDF.

How to Redact a Document:

1. Open Smallpdf online editor.

2. Click the Choose Files button to upload a file from your device or Dropbox/Google Drive.
3. Next, click the square icon in the toolbar and select Rectangle. Select black color for the rectangle.
4. Drag your mouse to draw a rectangle to cover the text you want to redact.
5. Click Finish and save the document.

Price: Free and premium ($9/month).

Supported Platforms: Online access. Also provide a Windows desktop app and a mobile app for Android and iOS devices.

7. i2PDF

You can also use i2PDF to black out sensitive information like emails, credit card numbers, phone numbers, etc. in documents. It lets you easily redact text or images in a PDF online for free. You can also find many other professional free PDF tools provided by i2PDF, e.g., PDF editor, PDF viewer, PDF conversion tools, etc.

How to Make a Redaction

1. You can go to i2PDF PDF redactor to access this free online PDF redaction tool in your browser.

2. Drag or drop your file in the target field or click the Choose Files button to upload your file.
3. Draw a black rectangle over the sensitive information in the document.
4. Download the redacted PDF to your computer.

Price: Free.

Supported Platforms: All operating systems.

If You Want a Desktop PDF Redaction Software

For online redaction tools, you can easily access them and redact PDFs online. However, if you prefer a desktop document redaction tool, you may try the programs below.

• PDFgear
• PDF Expert
• Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
• SwifDoo PDF
• EaseUS PDF Editor
• Objective Redact
• Nitro Pro
• PDFelement

Wrapping Up

To redact a PDF online for free, you can try one of the free online PDF redaction tools above based on your preference. These online tools let you easily select and upload a PDF file from a local drive or a cloud service and allow you to easily redact text, images, pages, or other content in the PDF. Your private information in the document should stay secure now.