How to Redact a PDF Without Adobe Pro on PC, Mac, Online

The PDF format can present documents independent of software, hardware, and operating systems. It is mainly designed for file archiving and sharing, not editing. However, it can be troublesome when you want to erase sensitive information before sending the PDF file. Since Adobe Acrobat Pro comes with a price tag, people may naturally wonder how to do that without Adobe Pro. After all, this kind of file-sharing need doesn't come up every day.

So this article shows how to redact a PDF without Adobe Pro in several ways. Whether you're concerned about protecting your personal information or sensitive business data, read on to learn how to redact PDF without Adobe Pro. 

iTop PDF is a reliable PDF editor you can use for free. Just like Adobe Acrobat, iTop PDF allows users to edit and redact PDF offline. It strikes a perfect balance between ease of use and features. Here are some key features of iTop PDF:

● Free to redact a PDF without Adobe: iTop PDF is free to use. It allows users to redact PDF files without Adobe Acrobat Pro. That makes it ideal for users who need to redact sensitive information occasionally and don't want to invest in expensive software.

● Search and redact multiple PDF texts with one click: iTop PDF allows users to search and redact multiple texts with just one click. And the batch processing feature can also save you a lot of time and effort when redacting large documents.

● Permanently black out sensitive PDF content: iTop PDF ensures the content you black out is permanently blacked out and can't be recovered. There is no need to upload your documents to a cloud server. Everything happens offline on your device. Your data security is the priority.

● Easy for novices to edit PDF files: iTop PDF strikes a good balance between features and ease of use. Some full-featured PDF editors can make it difficult to figure out each function. iTop PDF is intuitive and trouble-free. The MS Office ribbon-style toolbar makes it easy to navigate even for novice users. Zero learning curve.

How to redact a PDF without Adobe Pro for free?

Step 1. Download and install iTop PDF to your device.

What makes iTop PDF a must-have software?

• Edit PDF smoothly without hassle
• Convert PDF to any format in high quality
• Split and Merge PDF files easily and quickly
• Add e-signature effortlessly to your PDF

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Step 2. Launch the software. Click the "Open PDF" button to select the PDF file you want to redact. Then go to "Protect" from the top menu bar.

Step 3. The "Select for Redaction" function allows you to directly select and redact the content one by one. When dealing with multiple files or sensitive information occurs repeatedly, iTop PDF offers a "Search & Redact" function. You can use this function to select and redact all the sensitive content in mass. After selecting, click the "Apply Redaction" button to start redacting.

Using this easy-to-use PDF editor, you can learn how to redact a PDF without Adobe on Windows in seconds. Then, let’s target other effective solutions to redact a PDF.

If you are running Mac OS X, the built-in Preview app can help redact PDF without Adobe. With support for various file formats, Preview can serve as a PDF viewer and editor. It offers many basic editing features. Besides redacting text on a PDF, you can also merge or add watermark to PDF with Preview. That makes it a convenient option for Mac users who need to black out information on a PDF.

How to redact a PDF without Acrobat on Mac?

Step 1. Right-click on the PDF file and open it with the Preview app. Go to Tools > Redact from the top menu bar. Then click OK when the warning window pops up.

Step 2. Drag the cursor to select and redact PDF on Mac with Preview.

Step 3. Go to File > Save to export the redacted PDF document.

You can also redact PDF online if you are comfortable with uploading your PDF file to a cloud service. Online redactors like AvePDF provide a way when people don't feel like installing software. They are accessible in almost any web browser. AvePDF offers a range of tools to convert, edit, and compress PDF online, and more. It's especially suitable for users who need to redact PDF files on the go.

How to redact a PDF without Adobe Pro online?

Step 1. Go to the AvePDF website in your browser. Click the Choose File button to upload PDF from your device. You can also use the file in your Google Drive or Dropbox.

Step 2. Click the Add redaction marks button. Then Move the cursor to select the area you want to black out. Then click Save to apply redaction marks.

Step 3. Download the redacted PDF file when the processing is complete.

Please note that the maximum PDF file size you can upload to AvePDF is 128 MB. And you have only 2 free actions per hour with AvePDF Free.

In this part, we'll talk about some other tips you may be curious about on PDF text redaction.

How to Redact a PDF with Adobe

Many consider Adobe the industry standard for viewing, editing, and annotating PDF files. But please note that the redaction feature is not available in Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat free trial. You'll have to pay the monthly fee to redact a PDF with the paid version of Adobe Acrobat Pro. If you have already subscribed to Adobe Pro, follow the steps below on how to redact a PDF in Adobe Pro.

Step 1. Open the PDF in Adobe Pro. Go to Tools > Redact.

Step 2. Click Mark for Redaction > Text & Images to select the area you want to redact.

Step 3. Click Apply to save the redaction marks.

How to Redact in Word

While Microsoft Word is primarily a word processing software, it does offer some basic tools to protect text in PDF by redacting it. When you open the PDF file with MS Word, Word will convert it to an editable document for you to edit. However, the original formatting can become a complete mess, especially when the content is not plain text. So your best bet is still to use a professional PDF editor to convert PDF to Word without losing formatting. Anyway, the following is how to redact a PDF without Adobe Pro in Word.

Step 1. Open the PDF file in Word.

Step 2. Move the cursor to select the content you want to black out.

Step 3. Click the black box from the drop-down list of Text Highlight Color. Go to File > Save As to save the redacted file as PDF.

The Bottom Line

We've listed several methods for how to redact a PDF without Adobe Pro. Considering data security and redaction effects, it could be the best solution to use a desktop Adobe Acrobat alternative like iTop PDF.

iTop PDF offers a series of PDF editing tools including redaction. With iTop PDF, there is no need to feel skeptical about data leakage, because everything happens offline on your device. It also comes with the ability to search and redact multiple PDF texts with one click. Hesitate no more and redact PDF for free with iTop PDF.