Security & Privacy
Free PDF Security Tools
Free PDF security tools for the moment before a file leaves your hands: redact what shouldn’t be read, lock what should stay private, unlock your own files, and strip the hidden details. Every one runs on your device, so the document you are protecting is never uploaded to protect it.
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Security & Privacy tools
Redact, lock, unlock and clean a PDF before it leaves your hands. Every one runs on your own device.
- Redact PDF Black out text for good — the words underneath are removed, not covered.
- Remove PDF Password Open a locked PDF once with its password and save a copy that opens without it.
- Password Protect PDF Lock a PDF with AES-256 so it asks for a password to open.
- Flatten PDF Bake form fields, comments and stamps into the page so nothing can be edited.
- Remove PDF Metadata Strip the author, software, dates and hidden XMP before you share.
- Unlock PDF Restrictions Remove print, copy and edit restrictions from a PDF you own.
- Auto-Redact Personal Info Find emails, phone, card and ID numbers, and black them all out at once.
- PDF Privacy Scanner Check a PDF for personal data, hidden text, metadata and scripts before you send it.
- Edit PDF Metadata Read and rewrite the title, author, subject and keywords stored in a PDF.
- PDF Checksum SHA-256, SHA-1 and MD5 fingerprints to prove a PDF hasn’t changed.
Security & Privacy guides
- How to redact a PDF for free How to redact a PDF free: why a black rectangle still leaks the words underneath, how real redaction removes them, and how to check your file before you send it.
- How to remove a PDF password without Adobe Remove a PDF password without Adobe: what the two PDF passwords do, which one you need, and how to save an unlocked copy in your browser without uploading the file.
- How to remove metadata from a PDF A PDF carries an author name, software, dates and hidden XMP data. See what yours holds, strip it in your browser, and check the result before the file leaves.
- Flatten or redact? The difference that matters Flattening makes a PDF final; redacting removes text from it. They solve different problems, and using the wrong one leaks data. Here is how to tell them apart.
- How to unlock a PDF for printing A PDF that opens but will not print or copy carries permission flags, not encryption to break. What those flags are, and how to clear them from your own file.
- Are online PDF tools safe? Most PDF sites upload your file to their servers. What that means in practice, the questions worth asking, and how to check what a page sends before you trust it.
- How to send a PDF securely Seven checks before a sensitive PDF leaves your device: encryption strength, the right password, hidden data, attachments, scripts and what the recipient can do.
Common problems, fixed
- Fix Why can’t I copy text from my PDF?
- Fix This PDF is password protected but I never set one
- Fix The black box I drew didn’t hide the text
- Fix My name is in the PDF and I didn’t put it there
- Fix My PDF form answers disappear when I send it
- Fix My PDF won’t let me print it
- Start here Black out text in a PDF properly
- Start here Open a PDF someone sent with a password
- Start here Password-protect a PDF before sending it
Why should PDF security tools run on your device?
A redaction tool that uploads your file has already shared the thing you meant to hide. The same goes for unlocking a bank statement or cleaning the author name off a contract: an online service sees the document in full before it hands back the safer copy.
These tools use pdf-lib and pdf.js compiled for the browser. The file is read from your disk into this tab’s memory, changed there, and saved back to your disk. Open your browser’s Network tab while you use one — the requests column stays empty.
Terms Redaction PDF metadata XMP PDF encryption User password Owner password Flattening a PDF PDF form fields Checksum
Questions
Which tool permanently removes text from a PDF?
Redact PDF. It removes the words under each box rather than drawing over them, so they can’t be copied, searched or recovered from the saved file.
Can I remove a PDF password I don’t know?
No. Remove PDF Password needs the password once to open the file, then saves a copy without it. Restrictions on printing or copying are different — Unlock PDF Restrictions removes those without a password.
What does PDF metadata reveal?
Usually the author’s name, the software and computer account that made the file, creation and edit dates, and sometimes the original file path. Remove PDF Metadata clears all of it.
How strong is the password protection?
Password Protect PDF uses AES-256, the strongest encryption the PDF format supports, readable by every current PDF viewer.