Adobe Acrobat Redaction: Complete Guide + Better Alternatives

Adobe Acrobat Pro is the most well-known PDF tool in the world, and it does include a redaction feature. For organizations that already pay for Adobe, it is a natural first choice. But Adobe's redaction tool has significant limitations that many users only discover after spending hours manually selecting text.

This guide covers everything you need to know about using Adobe's redaction tool — including an honest assessment of where it falls short and what alternatives exist.

Requirements: What You Need

Adobe's redaction feature is only available in Adobe Acrobat Pro. It is not available in:

Adobe Acrobat Reader (the free version)
Adobe Acrobat Standard
Third-party PDF viewers

Adobe Acrobat Pro costs $22.99/month or $239.88/year. There is no way to access the redaction tool without a Pro subscription.

If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Pro and do not want to subscribe, skip to the Alternatives section below.

Step-by-Step: How to Redact in Adobe Acrobat Pro

Step 1: Open Your PDF

Open the PDF you want to redact in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Make sure you are using the full Acrobat Pro application, not just Acrobat Reader.

Step 2: Access the Redact Tool

Go to Tools in the top menu bar, then select Redact. This opens the redaction toolbar. If you do not see the Redact option, confirm that you are using Acrobat Pro (not Reader or Standard).

Step 3: Mark Text for Redaction

Click "Mark for Redaction" in the toolbar. Your cursor will change to a crosshair. You now have two options:

Select text: Click and drag across text to select it for redaction. The selected text will be highlighted with a red border.
Select area: Draw a rectangle over a region of the page. Everything within the rectangle will be redacted.

Repeat this for every piece of sensitive information in the document. This is where Adobe's limitation becomes apparent — you must manually find and select every single item. There is no AI to help detect SSNs, names, or other sensitive data automatically.

Step 4: Use Find & Redact for Patterns (Optional)

Adobe does offer a "Find & Redact" feature that can search for specific text strings or patterns:

Click "Find Text" in the redaction toolbar
Enter a search term (e.g., a specific name or number)
Click "Search"
Review the results and check the boxes next to items you want to redact
Click "Mark for Redaction"

This is useful if you know the exact text you are looking for. However, it does not automatically detect types of sensitive data (like all SSNs or all credit card numbers) — you need to search for each pattern or term individually.

Step 5: Customize Redaction Appearance

Before applying, you can customize how redactions look:

Right-click a redaction mark
Select "Properties"
Choose the fill color (black is standard)
Optionally add overlay text (e.g., "REDACTED" or an exemption code)
Set font and size for overlay text

Step 6: Apply Redactions

Once all items are marked, click "Apply" in the toolbar. Adobe will warn you that this action is permanent and cannot be undone. Click "OK" to proceed.

At this point, the underlying text is permanently removed from the document. This is true redaction — not just a visual overlay.

Step 7: Remove Hidden Information

After applying redactions, Adobe may prompt you to remove hidden information from the document. This includes:

Metadata (author, creation date, revision history)
Comments and annotations
Hidden text layers
Bookmarks and links
Form field data
Embedded files

Click "Yes" to remove hidden information. This is an important step that many people skip.

Step 8: Save the Document

Save the redacted document. Use "Save As" to create a new file, preserving your original unredacted version. Never overwrite the original — you may need it later.

How to Redact Multiple Instances

If the same information appears multiple times (e.g., a name that appears on every page), Adobe's Find & Redact feature can help:

Open Find & Redact
Search for the text
Select all instances in the results
Mark all for redaction at once
Apply

This saves time compared to manually selecting each instance, but it only works for exact text matches. If a name is spelled differently (e.g., "John Smith" vs "J. Smith" vs "Mr. Smith"), you need to search for each variation separately.

How to Redact Images in Adobe

To redact part of an image:

Select the area redaction tool
Draw a rectangle over the portion of the image to redact
Apply the redaction

Note that Adobe redacts the visible pixels but the original image data within the redacted area is removed. For scanned documents where text appears as an image, you may need to use Adobe's OCR feature first to make the text selectable, then redact normally.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"Redact Tool Is Grayed Out"

This almost always means you are using Acrobat Reader or Acrobat Standard instead of Acrobat Pro. The redaction tool requires a Pro license. Check your version under Help > About Adobe Acrobat.

"Redaction Not Applying to Scanned Documents"

Scanned documents contain images, not selectable text. You need to run OCR first:

Go to Tools > Enhance Scans
Click "Recognize Text"
Select the pages to process
Click "Recognize Text"
Now use the redaction tool on the recognized text

"Can Still Search for Redacted Text"

If you can still find redacted text using the search function, the redaction was not applied — only marked. Make sure you click "Apply" after marking items. Marking and applying are separate steps in Adobe.

"Document Size Increased After Redaction"

This can happen if hidden information was not removed. Go to File > Properties > Description and check for metadata. Use Tools > Redact > Remove Hidden Information to clean the file.

Adobe Acrobat Redaction Limitations

Adobe's redaction tool works, but it has notable limitations for serious redaction work.

No AI Detection

This is the biggest limitation. Adobe requires you to manually find and select every piece of sensitive information. For a 100-page document with dozens of SSNs, names, addresses, and account numbers scattered throughout, this means hours of tedious work. There is no automated detection of sensitive data types.

AI-powered tools detect these automatically — you review and confirm instead of hunting.

Manual Only at Scale

Batch processing in Adobe is limited. While you can search and redact across a single document, processing hundreds of documents requires repeating the entire workflow for each file. There is no way to apply redaction rules across a document set.

No Audit Trails

Adobe does not generate redaction audit logs. For compliance purposes (HIPAA, GDPR, FOIA), you may need documentation of what was redacted, by whom, and when. Adobe does not provide this.

Expensive

At $240/year, Adobe Acrobat Pro is one of the more expensive options for redaction — especially if redaction is the only feature you need from the suite.

Desktop Software Required

Adobe Acrobat Pro requires installation on your computer. It does not work in a browser, which means you cannot redact from a tablet, a shared computer, or a locked-down work environment where software installation is restricted.

Steep Learning Curve

The redaction workflow involves multiple steps (mark, customize, apply, remove hidden info, save) spread across different menus and toolbars. New users often miss critical steps like applying redactions or removing hidden information.

Better Alternatives to Adobe for Redaction

AI-Redact

AI-Redact is purpose-built for document redaction with AI-powered detection.

Key advantages over Adobe:

AI auto-detection: Automatically finds SSNs, credit card numbers, names, addresses, and 40+ other data types — no manual hunting
Browser-based: No software to install, works on any device
Batch processing: Process multiple documents with consistent rules
Audit trails: Automatic logging of all redaction actions
Compliance-ready: SOC 2 Type II certified, HIPAA compliant with BAA
Cost: Free tier (5 docs/month), Pro at $29/month

When AI-Redact is better: For anyone who redacts more than occasionally, needs AI detection, requires compliance features, or wants a faster workflow.

Preview on Mac (Free)

macOS Preview includes basic redaction. Free, built-in, and simple, but entirely manual with no AI detection, no batch processing, and Mac only.

When Preview is better: For Mac users who need to redact a single document once in a while.

Online Tools (Smallpdf, iLovePDF)

Browser-based PDF tools that include redaction features. Affordable but no AI detection, limited compliance features, and potential security concerns with uploading sensitive documents.

When online tools are better: For non-sensitive documents when you are already paying for these tools for other PDF features.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Adobe Acrobat Pro	AI-Redact	Mac Preview
AI Detection	No	Yes (40+ types)	No
Permanent Redaction	Yes	Yes	Yes
OCR (Scanned PDFs)	Yes	Yes	No
Batch Processing	Limited	Yes	No
Audit Trails	No	Yes	No
HIPAA Compliant	No BAA	Yes (BAA available)	No
Platform	Desktop (Win/Mac)	Browser (any device)	Mac only
Find & Replace	Yes (text only)	Yes (AI patterns)	No
Cost	$240/year	Free - $29/month	Free
Learning Curve	30+ minutes	5 minutes	10 minutes

When Adobe Makes Sense

Adobe Acrobat Pro may still be the right choice if:

You already pay for Adobe Creative Cloud and Acrobat Pro is included
You need advanced PDF editing beyond redaction (form creation, document assembly, accessibility features)
You prefer desktop software and do not want to use browser-based tools
You have a single user with occasional needs and the existing subscription covers it

For anyone focused on redaction — especially at volume or with compliance requirements — a purpose-built tool with AI detection is a better choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I redact in Adobe Acrobat Reader (free)?

No. The redaction tool is only available in Adobe Acrobat Pro. The free Reader does not include redaction capabilities.

Is Adobe redaction permanent?

Yes, once you click "Apply," the underlying text is permanently removed. Make sure you actually apply the redactions — marking them is not enough. Also run "Remove Hidden Information" to clean metadata.

Can Adobe detect sensitive data automatically?

No. Adobe's Find & Redact can search for specific text strings you enter, but it cannot automatically detect types of sensitive data like SSNs, credit card numbers, or names. You must know what you are looking for.

Does Adobe work on scanned PDFs?

Yes, but you must run OCR first to convert the scanned image to selectable text. Then you can use the redaction tool normally.

Is there a free trial of Adobe Acrobat Pro?

Adobe offers a 7-day free trial of Acrobat Pro. You can use the redaction tool during the trial period.

Conclusion

Adobe Acrobat Pro's redaction tool does its core job — it permanently removes text from PDFs. The steps are straightforward once you learn them, and the tool is reliable.

However, the complete lack of AI detection means that every redaction is manual. For anyone processing more than a few documents, this manual approach is slow, error-prone, and expensive relative to modern alternatives.