Free tool · runs in your browser · nothing uploaded
Is it safe to send?
Drag in a PDF you've already redacted. In a second or two the check shows whether text is still sitting under the black boxes, whether an earlier version of the file can be recovered, and what it could not check — it does no OCR, so text inside images isn't read. The document never leaves your machine.
There's no upload and no server to send it to — this is a static page. The checker is a WebAssembly build of Omitly's engine that runs inside your browser, reads the PDF into the page's own memory, and discards it when you close or reload. Nothing is stored, logged, or transmitted. Verify it yourself: turn off Wi-Fi, then drop a file — it still works. Or open your browser's Network tab and watch: no request goes out.
Quick walkthrough
Check a redacted PDF in under a minute
See how the browser leak checker uses a deliberately leaky sample, reports recoverable values, and masks the sensitive details.
Pattern-based checks can miss names, addresses, unusual formats and image-only text. No findings is not a guarantee that a PDF is fully redacted.
Why a black box isn't redaction
A drawn rectangle sits on top of the text. The characters are still in the PDF's content stream — selectable, copyable, extractable.
It re-reads the file in your browser and checks for text still under black or white boxes, earlier saved versions, hidden layers, embedded files, comments, scripts and form fields. It does no OCR, so text inside images isn't read.
Omitly removes the underlying data, verifies each region is empty, and writes a signed audit log — on-device. A black box can't do that.
Questions
How can a redacted PDF still contain the data?
Most tools — and most people — 'redact' by drawing a black rectangle over the text. The rectangle is just a shape painted on top; the original characters are still in the file's content stream. Anyone can select, copy, or extract them. True redaction removes the underlying bytes, which is what Omitly does.
Is my document uploaded anywhere?
No. The checker is a WebAssembly build of Omitly's check engine that runs entirely inside your browser tab. Your PDF's bytes are read into the page's memory and checked locally — nothing is sent to a server. You can disconnect from the internet and it still works.
Does it show the text it found?
No. Each line of the result names what the check found and on which pages — for example, that text is still in the file under a painted box on page 3 — never the text itself. The same privacy-by-default principle runs through all of Omitly.
What does 'Safe to Send' mean here?
It means every check that applies to this file passed. The check reads the file the way a recipient could: text still sitting under black or white boxes, earlier saved versions of the file, hidden layers, embedded files and comments, scripts and automatic actions, bookmarks, tooltips and alternate text, form fields, and document properties. The result lists exactly what was checked and what could not be. It is a statement about those checks, not a guarantee about the document: the check does no OCR, so text inside images is not read, and a box drawn over a scanned image is not checked. Text left in plain view is not a failure either — the check cannot know what you meant to send. To remove data and get a sealed, independently verifiable result, use the Omitly app.
What do 'Needs Review' and 'Cannot Verify' mean?
Needs Review means at least one check found something: 'problems found' is content a reader can recover, such as text under a painted box or a recoverable earlier version, and each line names the pages. Cannot Verify means the check could not read enough of the file to give a result — for example, a password-protected PDF — and the result says why. Neither shows the text involved.
How do I fix a leaking PDF?
Open it in Omitly. It removes the underlying text and image data (not a box over it), independently verifies nothing survives in each region, and writes a signed audit log — all on your machine.