Minimal PDF Redact

Minimal PDF Redact blacks out the parts of a PDF you choose and saves a new file. It does this one thing. ⬛

How to use
1. Tap the large plus button and choose one PDF. Password-protected files ask for the password.
2. Mark what to hide. Use the box tool and drag across the page to draw black boxes. Use the hand tool to zoom in and move around. Tap a box to select it, then delete it, or undo your last change.
3. Or use find: type a word and see how many matches there are and on how many pages. "Redact all" turns every match into a box. Find works on PDFs that have a text layer; for scans, draw the boxes by hand.
4. Check the page strip at the bottom: a dot marks every page that has boxes.
5. Tap Redact, confirm, and choose where to save. The new file is named like "name_redacted.pdf".

What the saved file contains
Every page of the new file is rebuilt as a single picture, with the black boxes painted into the pixels. Nothing is copied over from the original file: no text, fonts, document details, comments, attachments, links, bookmarks, forms or earlier versions. So there is nothing behind a box to select, copy or uncover.

Checked after saving
The app opens the saved file again and checks it: no text, no fonts, pages are images only, no metadata, no attachments, scripts, links, bookmarks or forms, no earlier versions, the page count matches, the black boxes are really black, and the words you searched for are not in the file. If any check fails, the file is deleted and nothing is saved. The result screen lists what passed, and shows any check that could not be run.

Your original file
The app only reads your original, which is not changed. It still contains everything you hid, so delete it or keep it protected yourself. The checks look at the saved file only. They cannot know what you forgot to mark, so look through every page before you share the result.

Private by design 🔒
- The app asks for no permissions. Files are chosen and saved through Android's own file picker, which only gives access to the files you pick.
- It does not request internet access. No account, no ads, no analytics, no tracking.
- Pages are drawn in memory on your phone. Screenshots and screen recording are blocked while a file is open. A password you type is kept in memory only; the unlocked working copy used for a protected file is wiped and deleted when you close it.

Good to know
- The result is pictures: text can no longer be selected, searched or read by screen readers, and the file is usually larger than the original. Pages are saved at 200 dpi as JPEG.
- Links, bookmarks, form fields and digital signatures are not kept.
- There is no text recognition (OCR). For a scanned page, draw the boxes by hand.
- Very large pages are scaled down, and a very large PDF may not fit in your phone's memory. The app then tells you so instead of closing.
- The app is not legal advice. If a court, agency or law has specific rules for redaction, you are responsible for meeting them.

Simple to use
Portrait layout, light and dark themes (Auto, Light or Dark). The screens use icons instead of text wherever possible. There is no page limit and no watermark.

Support ☕
All features are free to use. If you would like to support development, there are three optional in-app items (Coffee, Lunch and Dinner-sized Support). They do not unlock anything. A small support message may appear when you open the app (the 10th time, then every 100th) and stops once you have supported.