PDF Editing

A Guide To The Best PDF Redaction Tools In 2025

In today’s world, we are adopting digital trends and depend on PDFs to translate notes, manuals, documents, etc. However, there are situations where you have to share a PDF document but want to remove some part of the text included. This process is called Redaction, where only a part of the information is removed permanently. In this guide, we have discussed more about Redaction and which tools can help you redact PDFs.

What is PDF Redaction?

PDF Redaction is the process by which certain sensitive or confidential information is marked as hidden from a PDF document. The information redacted cannot be recovered, viewed, or extracted by anyone. Redaction is different from Annotation, which means to highlight parts of data or add text near images or tables. It can be carried out with PDF editor tools or online PDF management tools.

Note – Blacking out text using a drawing tool or highlighting text is not the same as redaction. It can be called a visual mask and can be searched and copied if required.

Why is Redaction Important in a Document?

Redaction is used in legal documents where certain case details, like names and addresses, are redacted before making the case files public.
It is also carried out in official government documents that contain classified data.
Redaction can also be used to hide the proprietary information and personal data from corporate reports.

7 Best PDF Redaction Software in 2025

1. Systweak PDF Editor

Systweak PDF Editor allows users to view, manage, convert, secure, comment, perform OCR, add form elements, and edit PDF documents in multiple ways. It also allows users to compress, repair, count words, merge, split, and extract images from a PDF. You can easily search text and redact in this software, along with colorful or whiteout redactions.

Features.

24/7 & email customer support
60-day money-back guarantee
Includes the Metadata Removal Tool along with Watermark Manager.

Price – $48.97 Yearly, $89.95 Lifetime.

2. Wondershare PDFelement 11

The next item in the list of best PDF redaction tools is Wondershare PDFelement 11. This software facilitates AI tools that can help users summarize the entire PDF using an AI Knowledge Card. It also includes an AI Grammar module that includes checking for grammar and translating capabilities. The redaction module allows users to ensure privacy by redacting sensitive information.

Features

Edit a PDF document like Microsoft Word.
Convert PDFs to/from 20+ File Formats.
Reduce PDF at higher quality, smaller size, and faster speed.

Price – $79.99 Yearly and $129.99 Lifetime.

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3. Adobe Acrobat Pro

Adobe created the PDF format when the world was looking for a stable digital document format. Adobe Acrobat Pro is very expensive, but it is the only program that offers limitless features and allows users to make maximum changes to any PDF. Apart from the usual PDF editing and management features, this software allows users to permanently redact sensitive data, make comments, set e-signatures, and make scanned documents searchable using OCR.

Features

Protect the PDF with a password so that no one can open it.
Convert PDFs into different file formats and vice versa.
Edit text and images, as well as rearrange or remove pages.

Price – $29.99 monthly and $239.88 yearly.

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4. Foxit PDF Editor+

If you are looking for the best software for redacting documents, then we have Foxit PDF Editor+, which includes AI Redaction. This feature helps you automatically identify Personal Information and redact it with batch capabilities. It offers all other editing features like create, merge, rotate, edit text/images, fill/sign forms, etc.

Features

Paid users get access to 150GB of cloud storage.
Offers an AI assistant and AI Smart Redact.
One subscription can be used on PC, Mobile, or any Web browser.

Price – $159.99 Yearly.

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5. PDF-XChange Editor Plus

One of the best ways to redact a PDF is by using PDF-XChange Editor Plus. This amazing tool allows users to change the text case of the PDF text, view the Review History for annotations, and integrate cloud-based services in addition to the basic functions available in other major PDF editors.

Features

An enhanced OCR engine that makes scanned documents editable and searchable.
Includes dynamic JavaScript features to facilitate the creation of stamps that will display dynamic information.
The Compare Documents feature can be used to compare documents and provides a summary of differences.

Price – $79.00 Lifetime.

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6. EaseUS PDF Editor

EaseUS PDF Editor is one of the best PDF redaction tools that offers many modules to edit and manage your PDF document. Users can edit PDFs, carry out OCRs, split, merge, annotate, and perform many other functions other than redaction. It also allows users to convert PDF files to other file formats like Excel, PowerPoint, image, etc, and vice versa.

Features

Users can search & replace text in the PDF document.
This tool allows users to change the background or apply a background in a solid color.
With EaseUS PDF Editor, users can create a fillable form on their PDF with different elements like radio buttons, check boxes, combo boxes, list boxes, and push buttons.

Price – $49.95 Yearly & $79.95 for lifetime.

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7. pdfFiller Premium

Speaking of the best software for redacting documents, we have pdfFiller, which is an online tool. It includes the US Legal Forms Library that contains over 85000 legal form formats. It also supports integration with G Suite and other cloud Platforms. This software also includes an online spell checker tool that helps eliminate typos.

Features

Collect data with web forms.
Smart document tags & folders
Create reusable templates

Price $15 Monthly.

Download Link

Which PDF Redaction Tool Have You Selected?

That concludes our journey into the world of PDF redaction tools. We have highlighted the best tools after trying and testing them. You can choose the best tool for yourself depending on the features and price. If you ask us, then we recommend Systweak PDF Editor as the perfect tool for PDF editing and management.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly does redaction mean in a PDF context?

Redaction on PDF means permanently hiding content or text from a PDF document beyond recovery. It is done when you do not want the receiver to view certain information in the PDF file.

What Is the Best Way to Redact a Document?

Redacting a PDF document can be done with any offline PDF editor or management software. We do not recommend using online tools for redaction.

How do I redact text in a PDF without Acrobat?

You can use a budget-friendly software like Systweak PDF Editor to redact a PDF document without using Adobe Acrobat software, which can be very expensive for most users.

Dheeraj Manghnani

Dheeraj Manghnani likes to read and write about latest technological developments that make life simpler in today's intricate world. He has been fascinated by technology since he got his first computer and is on a never ending quest to know more and share his knowledge with others.