How to Redact PDF.

Sometimes a PDF can contain financial, personal, or sensitive information which can make sharing the file difficult. Distributing files that contain private information can be problematic, but if you know how to redact parts of your PDF document, it opens up a world of possibilities.

We’ve put together a guide on how to redact your PDFs in Adobe for both Windows and Mac. Read on to learn everything you need to know about redacting PDFs.

What You’ll Learn.

How to Redact in Adobe Acrobat Pro.

First and foremost, you’ll need a PDF if you want to redact it in Adobe Acrobat. Opening a PDF in Adobe Acrobat can be as simple as double-clicking on the PDF file you want to open. If PDFs don’t automatically open in Acrobat, you can open them by performing the following steps.

How to Redact PDF Documents.

Once you’ve opened your chosen PDF, you can begin to redact your PDF in Adobe Acrobat. If you want to redact PDFs on a Mac, skip to the next section.

  1. Find the Redact tool - You may have to select the 'More tools' option and select 'Redact' in the 'Protect & Standardize' section.

The Redact function from Adobe Acrobat.

  1. You can then select 'Redact Text & Images' in the top of the folder. Here, you can Redact Pages or Find Text & Redact.
  2. If you choose to Find Text & Redact, a search bar will open, and you can find relevant terms to redact from here.
  3. To redact, highlight the text or image you want to remove. This will highlight in red. You can then select 'Apply'.
  4. A pop-up will appear asking if you want to permanently remove the redacted information from this document. When you save your file, save it as a separate PDF document. It’s important to remember this step, as the Redact tool removes the selected content permanently. This ensures you have a copy of the original.

If you want, you can also select Remove Hidden Information to redact identifying data in the background of your PDF, such as metadata or PDF objects that have been hidden.

How to Remove Redaction on a PDF on PC.

If you’ve used Adobe Acrobat’s redaction tool to black out a page, or just sections of your original file, you can still view the text underneath by following these steps.

  1. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro – once there, head to the Document menu.
  2. Select Examine Document. Your Adobe Acrobat program will look through the PDF and provide a checklist of the items you’re able to remove.
  3. If you press Preview, you should see the hidden text. From there, select the Show Preview button found at the bottom of the dialog box.
  4. In the document preview, select Show Hidden Text.
  5. You can use the navigation bar’s double-arrow buttons to scroll through your PDF pages.
  6. If you press Ctrl+A to select all the text, you’ll also include hidden words, and from there, Ctrl+C will copy everything selected.
  7. Open a Word document and press Ctrl+V to paste the copied text into the document, where you should be able to read it.

How to Redact PDF on Mac.

Redacting a PDF on a Mac works similarly to redacting on a PC.

  1. Start by opening your chosen PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
  2. Head to the Redact tool (found in the navigation menu).
  3. Once you’ve selected the tool, choose the content you want to redact. You should see a red box appear around your selected content.
  4. Choose how you want the redacted content to appear, e.g., as a blank space or a black box.
  5. Select Apply.

As with a PC, don’t forget to save the redacted version of a PDF separately so you don’t lose the content permanently.

How to Redact a PDF’s Content in Bulk on Mac.

If you need to remove specific segments of text from multiple documents, Adobe Acrobat’s PDF redaction tool can do the job for you.

Start by using the redaction tool as you would when working on a single document. You can find it under the Tools menu or in the Edit menu. Once you have selected the Redact tool, use the Search or Find feature to locate the text you want to remove.

With the Search or Find tool, you can search for multiple words, a single word, or patterns in text such as email addresses or phone numbers. It’s worth noting that this only works for redacting text, not images. Remember to apply and save your redacted version.

How to Redact a PDF on a Mac with Preview.

You can also use Apple’s Preview tool to redact a PDF on a Mac by following these steps. This can be one of the easiest ways to redact a PDF without Adobe Pro.

  1. Open your chosen PDF in Preview.
  2. In the top right, there should be a Markup icon, click it.
  3. A reminder will appear in a dialog box, requesting you save a copy of your PDF, click OK.
  4. Select the text you want to redact.

FAQs.

How do I black out text in a PDF?
If you want your redaction to appear as a blacked-out text, the redact tool automatically does this on Adobe Acrobat. If you want to change the colour of a redacted box, you can do so in Redaction Tool Properties.
Where is the redact tool in Adobe Acrobat?

The Redact tool can be accessed in a handful of places in Adobe Acrobat. Two possible options include:

  1. Find Redact under the Tools menu.
  2. Go to the Edit menu and select Redact Text & Images. You’ll find the Redact toolset in the secondary toolbar.
Which program should I use to Redact a PDF?
One of the best programs for redacting PDFs is Adobe’s Acrobat Pro. With a host of tools, including the Redact tool, built into the program, you can edit your PDFs easily and conveniently.

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