How to Redact a PDF
Overview
Redacting a PDF removes sensitive data — names, addresses, account numbers, medical identifiers — before the document is shared or processed by AI tools. Conseal handles PDF redaction locally on your machine, so your data never leaves your device. This guide walks you through the full process from opening a PDF to exporting a clean, redacted version.
Step-by-step instructions
Follow these steps to redact sensitive information from a PDF using Conseal.
- 1
Open Conseal and import your PDF
Launch the Conseal desktop app. Click 'Open File' or drag and drop your PDF into the main window. Conseal will render the document and prepare it for redaction.
- 2
Select the content to redact
Use the selection tool to highlight text or draw a region over any sensitive content. You can select individual words, full lines, or block areas. Conseal will automatically detect common PII patterns — names, emails, phone numbers — and suggest them for redaction.
- 3
Review and confirm redactions
The redaction panel shows all marked regions before they are applied. Review the list to confirm no legitimate content is included. You can remove any mistaken selections before proceeding.
- 4
Apply redactions
Click 'Apply Redactions'. Conseal permanently removes the selected content from the PDF and replaces it with black blocks. This process is irreversible — the original data is not stored in the file.
- 5
Export the redacted PDF
Click 'Export' to save the redacted PDF to your chosen location. The exported file is a standard PDF with all sensitive content removed and is safe to share or upload to any AI tool.