Redact all personally identifiable information from the staff performance [document=PDF] and save a clean version for …
Open the PDF you want to redact in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Go to Tools and select Redact.
Click Find and Remove Text.
Enter the word, phrase, or pattern you want to search for in the search box.
Choose the location to search (e.g., current document or all PDFs in a folder), then click Search.
Review the search results and check all instances you want to redact, or use Select All to mark every occurrence.
Click Mark for Redaction to mark the selected instances.
Click Apply Redactions and confirm when prompted to permanently remove the marked content.
CautionRedactions are permanent and cannot be undone after saving.
Best practiceYou can customize the appearance of redaction marks before applying them by adjusting settings in the Redact tool.
Best practiceAlways double-check your search term and results to ensure all sensitive information is covered, especially with patterns like SSNs.
Save the redacted PDF with a new file name.
You can use the Find Text and Redact feature to quickly locate and mark all instances of sensitive words or patterns for redaction throughout your document.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
For many items like Social Security Numbers or account numbers, Acrobat Pro has a feature for 'pattern-based auto-redaction'. This lets you find and redact all instances of a specific pattern automatically. After using it, always have another person check a few random examples to be sure it worked correctly.
Redaction only removes visible content. Hidden data, like document properties, layers, or revision history, can still contain sensitive information. Sanitizing the PDF removes all this hidden data, ensuring no private details are left behind.
If you simply draw a black rectangle, the text underneath is still there. Someone can select all the text, copy it, and paste it into another document to reveal the hidden information. Always use the dedicated 'Redact a PDF' tool to permanently remove the content.
No, the Adobe PDF Services API does not have a feature for redaction. Redaction is a desktop-only function within Acrobat Pro. This means you must use the Acrobat Pro application on your computer to redact documents manually.
Using a consistent reason-code list helps everyone on your team understand why specific information was redacted. This improves clarity, makes it easier to review documents, and ensures compliance with legal or company policies. It creates a clear audit trail for all redaction decisions.