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PDFBase

PDF Editor

Local

Add text and boxes, and truly remove text

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Tool Details
Input formatsPDF
Output formatPDF
Max file size100 MB
Max files1
ProcessingLocal
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Privacy First

Your files are processed entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded to any server.

How do I edit a PDF in the browser?

Open the file, pick the box or text tool, and click or drag on the page. Text is drawn where you click; a box covers whatever is under it. If the box has "Remove text underneath" enabled, that page is rasterized so the covered words are gone from the file rather than hidden behind an opaque rectangle. Save when you are done. The document is opened, edited and written entirely inside this browser tab, so nothing is uploaded at any point.

About the PDF Editor

Add text, cover content with a box, and remove the text underneath for real. Covering text does not delete it — this editor counts the words still readable under each box and can destroy them.

  • Black out an account number or address and actually remove it, rather than covering it with a box that copy-paste reads straight through.
  • Add a missing date, reference or initial to a contract without opening desktop software.
  • Check a document someone else redacted: draw a box over their black bar and the editor reports how many words are still readable underneath.
  • Cover a draft watermark or an internal note before sending a file outside the organisation.

How to use the Edit PDF tool

  1. 1

    Upload PDF file

    Select PDF file from your device or drag file into the upload area.

  2. 2

    Draw or click on the page

    Drag a box over content to cover it, or pick the text tool and click to place new text. Leave "Remove text underneath" enabled on a box to destroy the words it covers instead of hiding them.

  3. 3

    Save PDF

    Save when you are done. A note reports how many pages were rasterized to remove covered text, since those pages become images.

  4. 4

    Download the result

    Download the finished file. The original stays on your device and nothing is uploaded.

Does a black box actually remove the text under it?

In most editors, no — and this is the single most common way confidential information leaks out of a PDF. Drawing a filled rectangle adds a shape to the page; the glyphs underneath stay in the content stream exactly as they were. Anyone can select the region and copy the text, or run the file through a text extractor and read it in full. Courts, police forces and government departments have all published documents redacted this way and had the covered names read back within hours.

What does this editor do differently?

It reads the text layer of the page you are editing, so it knows which words sit under each box you draw. Leave a box as a plain cover and it tells you how many words are still readable underneath. Turn on "Remove text underneath" and the page is rasterized: the page is rendered to an image with your boxes painted into it, and that image replaces the original page, so the words are not in the saved file at all. You can check the result with the PDF to Text tool on this site.

What is the cost of removing text properly?

Rasterizing a page turns all of it into an image, so the rest of the text on that page stops being selectable and searchable, and the file gets larger. There is no way around this with the technique available in a browser: the only reliable way to guarantee a glyph is gone is to stop the page having a text layer. The editor applies it per page, so pages you have not redacted keep their text intact, and it tells you which pages are affected before you save.

Can it change the words already in the document?

No, and no browser tool that claims to should be trusted at face value. Editing existing text means rewriting the page content stream and reflowing everything around it, with the original fonts, and the libraries that run in a browser cannot do that. This editor adds content on top of the page and can destroy regions of it. If you need to rewrite a sentence, cover the old one and add the replacement as new text, or go back to whatever produced the PDF.

Are my files uploaded when editing a PDF?

No. The document is opened with a PDF engine running in this tab, edited in memory, and written back out in the same tab. Nothing is uploaded, which also means the words you are removing are never transmitted anywhere in the process — an important difference when the whole point of the edit is that the content is sensitive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does putting a black box over text delete it?
Not on its own. A filled rectangle is a shape added on top of the page, and the text underneath stays in the file where it can be selected, copied or read by any text extractor. This editor detects the words under each box you draw and tells you how many are still readable.
How do I actually remove text from a PDF?
Draw a box over it with "Remove text underneath" enabled. That page is then rendered to an image with the box painted in, and the image replaces the original page, so the covered words are not present in the saved file at all.
What happens to the rest of the page when I remove text?
It becomes part of an image, so the remaining text on that page is no longer selectable or searchable and the file grows. This is unavoidable: removing a glyph for certain means the page can no longer have a text layer. Pages you have not redacted keep their text untouched.
Can I change words that are already in the document?
No. Rewriting existing text means rebuilding the page content stream and reflowing it in the original fonts, which browser PDF libraries cannot do. You can cover the old text and add replacement text on top.
Can I check that a redaction worked?
Yes, and you should. Open the saved file in PDF to Text and search for the removed words. No match confirms they are absent from extractable page text. Also inspect document properties and attachments before sharing, because text extraction alone cannot certify every data channel in a PDF.
Is my document uploaded while I edit it?
No. The file is opened, edited and written back out inside this browser tab. Nothing is transmitted, which matters most here because the content being removed is usually the sensitive part.

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