Removing sensitive content from PDFs Part 1

Removing sensitive content from PDFs Part 1

Why redact or remove sensitive content?

Before you distribute a PDF, you may want to examine the document for sensitive content or private information that can trace the document to you. Use the Redact a PDF tool to remove or redact sensitive images and text visible in a PDF.

Use the Sanitize and remove hidden information feature to find and remove hidden content from a PDF. For example, if you created the PDF, the document metadata normally lists your name as the author. You may also want to remove content that can inadvertently change and modify the document’s appearance. JavaScript, actions, and form fields are types of content that are subject to change.
 

Redact sensitive content (Acrobat Pro)

Redaction is permanently removing visible text and graphics from a document. You use the Redact a PDF tool to remove content. In place of the removed items, you can have redaction marks that appear as colored boxes or leave the area blank. You can specify custom text or redaction codes to appear over the redaction marks.

Note

If you want to locate and remove specific words, characters, or phrases, use the Find text or tools  instead.

Redact sensitive content
Text marked for redaction (left), and redacted (right)

  1. 1. Open the PDF in Acrobat, and from the global bar, select All tools > Redact a PDF.

  2. 2. Select the text or image you want to redact. You can double-click to select a word or image or drag to select a line, block of text, object, or area. 

    Note

    To preview how your redaction marks appear, hold the pointer over the marked area.

  3. 3. After marking the items you want to redact, select Apply in the lower right of the Redact a PDF tools pane.

  4. 4. In the Apply Redactions dialog, choose if you want to Sanitize and remove hidden information by selecting the toggle button and then selecting Continue.

    Note

    The items aren’t permanently removed from the document until you save it.

  5. 5. The Save As dialog is displayed. Specify a filename and location. The suffix “_Redacted” is appended to the filename. If you don’t want to overwrite the original file, save the file with a different name, or at a different location. Select Save.

  6. 6. (Optional) To repeat a redaction mark, right-click it and choose Repeat mark across pages. This feature is convenient if a particular header, footer, or watermark appears in the same location on many pages.

Tip

To apply multiple code entries to a single redaction, right-click a redaction mark and select an option. For more information, see Apply multiple code entries to a redaction.

Set properties while redacting text or images

To set the appearance of redaction marks, select Set properties in the Redact toolset in the left pane. (See Change the look of redaction markers.)

Redaction properties

Search and redact text (Acrobat Pro)

Use the Find text or tools tool to find and remove words or phrases in one or more PDFs that contain searchable text.

Note

The Find Text tool doesn’t search secured (encrypted) PDFs.

  1. 1. Open the PDF in Acrobat, and from the global bar, select All tools > Redact a PDF.

    The Redact a PDF tools appear on the left pane.

  2. 2. Select Find text and redact, and then choose OK on the message dialog that appears.

    Find text and redact
    Find text and redact

  3. 3. In the Search dialog box,  specify if you want to search the current PDF or all PDFs in another location.

  4. 4. Do one of the following:
    • To search for only one word or phrase, choose Single word or phrase and type the word or phrase in the text field.
    • To search for multiple words, select Multiple words or phrase, and then click Select words. Type each word in the New word or phrase text field and select Add. You can also import a text file with the list of words or phrases to search for.
    • To search for a pattern (for example, phone numbers, credit card numbers, email addresses, social security numbers, or dates), click Patterns. Choose one of the available patterns. You can change the language version of the patterns. (See Select a different language version for patterns.)

  5. 5. Select Search & Remove Text.

  6. 6. In the search results, click the plus sign (+) next to the document name to see all occurrences of the word or phrase. Then, select the occurrences you want to mark for redaction:
    • To select all occurrences in the list, select Check All.
    • To select individual occurrences, select the checkbox for each one you want to redact. Select the text next to a checkbox to view the occurrence on the page.
    • To mark none of the occurrences, close the Search dialog box or select New Search to start over.
    • Select the option under Redaction Mark Options to mark whole words or partial words (characters) for redaction. For partial words, select Mark Partial Word(s) For Redaction, the Settings dialog box appears. In the Settings dialog box, specify the number and location of the characters for redaction. Character redaction is helpful if you’re searching for a pattern, like credit card numbers, and want to leave part of the number visible for identification purposes.

  7. 7. If you selected occurrences that you want to mark for redaction, click Mark Checked Results For Redaction.

    The items you selected in the list are shown marked for redaction.

    Note

    If you haven’t saved the file, you can select redaction marks in the document and press Delete to remove the redaction mark. The redaction marks become permanent after you save the file.

  8. 8. To remove the marked items, select Apply on the left pane.

  9. 9. In the Apply redactions dialog, choose if you want to Sanitize and remove hidden information by selecting the toggle button, and then select Continue.

    Apply redactions

    The items aren’t permanently removed from the document until you save it.

  10. 10. The Save As dialog is displayed. Specify a filename and location. The suffix “_Redacted” is appended to the filename. If you don’t want to overwrite the original file, save the file with a different name, at a different location, or both.

Find and redact hidden content (Acrobat Pro)

Use the Remove Hidden Information feature to find and remove content from a document that you don’t want, such as hidden text, metadata, comments, and attachments. When you remove items, additional items are automatically removed from the document. Items that are removed include digital signatures, document information added by third-party plug-ins and applications, and special features that enable Adobe Reader users to review, sign, and fill PDF documents.

Note

To examine every PDF for hidden content before you close it or send it in email, specify that option in the Documents preferences using the Preferences dialog box.

  1. 1. Open the PDF in Acrobat, and from the global bar, select All tools > Redact a PDF.

    The Redact a PDF tools appear on the left pane.

  2. 2. Select Sanitize document. In the Sanitize Document dialog, to remove hidden information, select Selectively remove.

    Click here, to remove hidden information

    If items are found, they are listed in the Remove Hidden Information panel with a selected check box beside each item.

  3. 3. Make sure that the check boxes are selected only for the items that you want to remove from the document. (See Remove Hidden Information options.)

  4. 4. Select Remove to delete selected items from the file and select OK.

  5. 5. Choose File (macOS) or go to the hamburger menu  (Windows) > Save, and specify a filename and location. If you don’t want to overwrite the original file, save the file with a different name, at a different location, or both.

The selected content is permanently removed when you save the file. If you close the file without saving it, repeat this process, making sure to save the file.

Redact pages in a PDF

  1. 1. Open the PDF in Acrobat, and from the global bar, select All tools > Redact a PDF.

  2. 2. From the Redact a PDF tools pane, select Redact pages.

  3. 3. In the Mark Page Range dialog box, select any of the following: 

    • Mark current page for redaction: Redacts only the current page you are on.
    • Mark specific page range for redaction: Enter the page range you want to redact. 

  4. 4. Select OK.

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