Hallo PDF Help › How to redact a PDF
How to redact a PDF permanently
Black bars aren't enough — real redaction removes the underlying text so it can't be copied or recovered. Here's how to do it safely.
Important: placing a black rectangle over text in
many PDF tools only hides it — the text is still underneath and can be copied
or extracted. True redaction must delete the content itself.
1. Open the document
Open your PDF in the editor. Everything happens in your browser, so the sensitive file is never uploaded.
2. Choose the Redact tool
Select the Redact tool and drag a box over each piece of text or each area you want to remove. You can mark several regions before applying.
3. Apply the redaction
Hallo PDF gives you two options:
- Remove text + cover — deletes the underlying text under the box and covers the area, while the rest of the page stays real, selectable text.
- Flatten to image — rasterises the page with the boxes burned in, so nothing redacted survives anywhere in the page content.
4. Verify and save
After applying, try selecting or searching the redacted text — it should be gone. Then click Save to download the redacted PDF.
For maximum safety with scanned or image-heavy pages, the
flatten-to-image option guarantees the redacted pixels are removed.
More guides: Edit a PDF · Merge & split PDFs