Redaction Verifier
Check any redacted PDF for text still hiding under the boxes.
Redaction Verifier checks a redacted PDF from any tool for text that is still present underneath the black boxes — text operators under a filled cover, invisible text, hidden layers, and annotation-only covers that a reader can delete or hide — and reports page by page with the positions of what it found (the text itself is hidden until you choose to reveal it). It detects text that is still present; it cannot see what was removed, and a clean result is not evidence that a redaction was performed. Pages drawn through a form XObject are reported as could not check, never as clear.
Redaction Verifier answers one question about a PDF: is the text really gone? It reads the file's own content and reports text that is still there — sitting under a filled box, drawn invisibly, held in a layer the document hides, or covered only by an annotation a reader can delete. It detects text that is still present; it cannot see what was removed.
How to use Redaction Verifier — steps & common uses
What people use Redaction Verifier for
Anyone about to send out a redacted document, and anyone who has received one and wants to know what it still contains.
- Check a redacted file before sending it out
- Test whether another tool's redaction actually removed the text
- Find invisible text left in a document
- Spot an annotation used as a redaction
- Produce a per-page record of what was found
How to use Redaction Verifier
- Add the PDF. It can come from any tool, ours or anyone else's, and it is read on your device.
- Choose which pages to check, or leave the whole document selected.
- Click Check this document. Each page gets its own verdict, with the position of anything found.
- Reveal the text only if you need to see it, and download the report — masked by default.
Good to know: Detects text that is still present; a result with no findings is not evidence that a redaction was performed.
Questions about Redaction Verifier 7
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. UnboundPDF processes PDFs locally in the browser — documents are not uploaded to a server. We have no backend that receives, stores, or scans your files.
What does a result with no findings mean?
It means no extractable text was found under a mark on the pages that could be read. It is not evidence that a redaction was performed, and it is not a statement about anything this check cannot see.
What exactly does it look for?
Text under a filled rectangle drawn after it, text drawn in rendering mode 3 so it paints nothing, text in an optional-content layer the document asks readers to hide, and text under a Square, Redact, Highlight, FreeText, Ink, Stamp or Polygon annotation.
Why is the text hidden until I click?
Because the findings are the very strings someone tried to remove. They stay masked on screen and in the downloaded report until you ask for them.
Is invisible text always a failed redaction?
No, and the tool says so. A searchable scan carries an invisible OCR layer by design, which looks the same. It is reported as its own kind of finding rather than counted as a cover.
Are there pages it cannot check?
Yes. Text drawn inside a Form XObject, as vector outlines, or with a Type 3 font is not readable as text. Those pages are reported as "could not check" and never as clear.
Will it flag an ordinary black table cell?
It can. A filled rectangle over text has the same shape whatever it was drawn for, so the finding names the position and lets you judge it.
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How your files are handled
The work runs on your own device, inside the browser tab — so there is no server to send your document to.
- Nothing is uploaded. We have no backend that receives or stores documents, so we cannot see your files during processing or after.
- Your device does the work. Large documents are handled in stages, pages are rendered as you reach them, and each job is checked against your device before it starts — so a long run takes longer on a phone than on a laptop, nothing is queued behind other people's jobs, and you can stop a run at any point without touching your original file.
- No account and no watermark. The output is a clean file you can use anywhere, with no sign-up and no hourly cap.
More legal tools
Other free PDF utilities that work the same way — in your browser, no sign-up.