Covered is not removed
Test any "redacted" PDF in a minute. It takes three steps.
Reference TEST-0000-EXAMPLE is paid up to the end of the period.The page looks redacted. The text is still under the box.
Reference is paid up to the end of the period.The text is gone from the page, so that reference can't be copied.
Illustration with an invented document.
Search
Search the PDF for a word that should be gone.
Copy
Drag across the black box, copy, and paste into a note.
Look
If the word turns up either way, it was covered, not removed. If nothing turns up, that shows only that this test found nothing.
Redact a PDF in hYYa ink
- 1
Open Redact & Replace
Open the PDF and choose Redact & Replace. On iPhone and Mac it is in the tools menu.
- 2
Mark the words
On iPhone and Mac, select the words and choose Redact. A black bar marks them. On Android, drag across the words.
- 3
Save a new file
On iPhone and Mac, choose Save copy… to write a new file. On Android, each drag saves its own new copy, made from the PDF you have open. To remove more words, open that new copy and redact there, or a second drag gives a file with only the second word removed. The suggested name includes redacted, and you can change it.
- 4
Check and share
Search the new file for each removed word. Redact works page by page, so if a word turns up on another page, redact it there too. Keep and share the new file, not the original.
Redacting never uploads your PDF. AI actions are separate: running one sends the open PDF's text to the service you chose.
Why the text is gone from that page
Rebuilt as a picture
Only the pages you redact are rebuilt. Each one becomes a picture with the black bars part of it, so the text under the bars is no longer on the page.
Read back on your device
On a page that had text, hYYa ink re-reads the picture on your device and adds the words you kept back as invisible text, so they stay selectable and searchable. The removed words are black pixels by then, so the re-read cannot bring them back. Scanned pages are not re-read.
The rest of the page
Visible form fields and comments are drawn into the picture, so a bar blacks out whatever it overlaps. A comment or field with no visible appearance is not drawn, and it still leaves the page. On iPhone and Mac, a link is dropped when a bar touches it. On Android, every link on a redacted page is dropped.
Cover and replace
It uses the same engine: it removes the original words, then writes your new text in their place, so there is no old figure underneath.
A PDF can keep a word in more places than the page
hYYa ink's own tests plant one word in the page text, a form field, a bookmark's target and the accessibility tags.
They redact it the way the app does, then search the whole saved file for it.
The same search runs on a copy with only boxes drawn over the word, and that copy must fail. A test that can't catch a box proves nothing.
The Apple tests run on a Mac, on the PDF code iPhone shares. The Android tests run on a test emulator.
The limits, plainly
That page, nothing wider
It removes the text you select from that page. The same words on other pages stay until you redact them too. It does not clean document details (metadata), attachments or embedded files, and bookmark names stay as they were.
Scans differ by device
On iPhone and Mac, Redact needs text you can select, so a scan needs Make Searchable first, which is also part of Pro. On Android, the drag works on a scan.
Some table rows
On iPhone and Mac, some table-style rows, such as a label with its value beside it, can't be redacted yet.
The whole file on Android
Other pages keep their content, but the document's accessibility tags and any dynamic-form data are removed from the whole file.
Your original keeps its words
The file you opened is not changed, so don't send it by mistake.
Recognition can misread
A redacted page's kept text comes from the re-read. If that fails, the redaction still stands, but the page is less searchable.
Redacted pages are pictures
They can look a little less sharp than the rest of the document.
It isn't legal advice
If a court, regulator or employer sets rules for your document, check it against them.
Questions, answered
Does a black highlight or box redact a PDF?
No. A box or highlight drawn on top of live text leaves that text in the file, so it can still be selected, copied or found by search. Redaction has to remove the text from the page.
Does hYYa ink remove PDF metadata too?
No. Redact removes the text you select from the page. It does not touch document details (metadata), attachments or embedded files, so check those separately before you share a sensitive file.
Does hYYa ink change my original PDF?
No. It writes a new file, with redacted in the suggested name. The PDF you opened stays as it was, words included, so share the new file and keep the original somewhere safe.
Can I still search a redacted PDF?
Yes. hYYa ink re-reads each redacted page that had text, on your device, so the text you kept normally stays selectable and searchable. The removed words are black pixels by then, so the re-read can't restore them.