# How to redact a PDF and check the finished file

> Find repeated details, mark what search misses, and check a redacted PDF before sharing it. Follow a worked contact-sheet example.

[Read this guide in Edit PDF Pages](https://editpdfpages.com/guides/redact-pdf/)

Content updated: 2026-10-12. Example checked 12 October 2026 in Chrome 155 on macOS.

The email on the first page is easy to spot. Its second appearance and the visitor badge saved as an image take another look. This example needs three redaction marks before it is ready to export.

Download the fictional [contact sheet](https://editpdfpages.com/guides/examples/contact-sheet.pdf) and open it in the [PDF workspace](https://editpdfpages.com/). Edit PDF Pages will create a fresh image-only PDF for the sharing copy. Keep the original file available while you work.

## Find both email occurrences

1. Select **Redact**. Enter **avery.lane@example.com** in **Find sensitive text**, then use the search button.
2. Read both matching text areas. A match can include adjacent words, so check the full area before choosing **Mark all matches**.
3. Visit the other page and inspect its mark too. Search results can be on pages you have not yet viewed.

For a document with several addresses, **Find a pattern → Email addresses → Find** can help. Search reads existing PDF text or completed OCR. It can miss fragmented words, recognition errors and details inside images.

## Cover the badge that search cannot read

Return to page 1. The visitor badge is an image, so drag a redaction over its private detail, including the outer edges of the letters and numbers. The example now has three black marks: two for the email and one for the badge.

Inspect every page for anything else that needs covering, including headers and footers. A search returning **No matches** only tells you that it found nothing.

## Use suggestions when they help

Entering **Redact** also checks available text for possible emails, phone numbers and labeled account or ID numbers. Gold highlights are suggestions; nothing is selected automatically. Click or tap the areas you want, then choose **Redact selected** above the page to apply the checked areas.

The **Show** filter narrows the visible categories. Selections stay checked across filters, and **Redact selected** applies all of them. Apply or clear pending selections before exporting. Each mark covers its full source text area, which can include neighboring words.

Thumbnail counts help you navigate, but a zero count does not establish that a page is safe. Scans need **Recognize text** before text-based suggestions can help. You still need to inspect the images and mark missed details yourself.

## Make and inspect the sharing copy

Choose **Export**, set the format to **PDF** and leave **Pages** on **All pages** for this example. Redactions force **Sanitized image-only PDF**. Choose the page image quality, then **Create PDF**.

This rebuilds the exported pages without copying source PDF objects or OCR layers. Selectable text, interactive forms and links are lost. A black shape placed over original PDF content would not, by itself, establish removal; the separate sanitized export is essential.

Open the download and inspect the edges of all three marks at a readable zoom. Check that surrounding information remains legible and look over the rest of each page. Searching for the email is only an extra check: an image-only PDF returns no text matches even for visible details you missed. The structural checks likewise cannot decide whether you marked every private detail.

**Share the exported PDF.** A **.folio** project and a local draft keep unredacted originals, even when the workspace shows black marks. Keep those editable backups private.

## Worked example

![Contact sheet with the email and the image-only visitor badge covered by black redaction marks](https://editpdfpages.com/guides/images/redact-pdf.png)

Three marks cover the two email occurrences and the image-only badge. The downloaded two-page sanitized PDF reopened with no text layer; visible coverage still needs review.

## Related guides

- [How to make a scanned PDF searchable](https://editpdfpages.com/guides/make-scanned-pdf-searchable/)
- [How to delete pages from a PDF before sharing it](https://editpdfpages.com/guides/delete-pages-from-pdf/)

These guides were prepared with AI assistance and checked using fictional documents. Examples contain no real customer or account data. See each guide's example for the workflow and its limits.