Check your PDF for supported types of personally identifiable information such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, IBANs and identity fields. Review every detection before permanent redaction.
✓ Automatic detection✓ Real PDF redaction✓ Scanned PDF OCR✓ Free to use✓ No account required
Review detected information
Uncheck an automatic result to keep it. Add rectangles for anything the detector missed.
Text PDF
Document preview Black = automatic · Red = manual
Redact PII without searching every line manually
Nerato looks for supported types of personal information and presents possible matches for review before anything is permanently redacted.
Find common types of PII
Nerato can detect supported personal-data patterns and fields including email addresses, phone numbers, IBANs, payment card numbers and identity information.
Review every detection
Possible PII is highlighted in the PDF preview so you can check the context and decide whether each item should be removed.
Redact anything detection misses
Automatic detection cannot identify every possible piece of personal information. Add manual redaction areas for anything else that should not be shared.
Privacy by design
Your PDF is temporary. Your review stays yours.
Nerato keeps the uploaded PDF only in a temporary processing session while you review detected information and create the redacted document. Temporary sessions expire automatically after 15 minutes, and completing a redaction consumes the session.
No account requiredTemporary processingAutomatic session expiry
PII REDACTION
Keep control over personal information in your PDF
PDF documents can contain personal information in many different forms. Nerato combines automatic detection with visual review and manual redaction.
01
Surface likely personal information
Use automatic detection to locate supported PII patterns without relying on a manual line-by-line search of the entire document.
02
Decide what actually gets removed
A detected value is not automatically proof that it must be redacted. Review the results and select only the information you want to remove.
03
Check scanned PDFs with OCR when needed
When normal PDF text extraction is not sufficient, Nerato can use OCR on supported scanned pages before applying the same review workflow.
Upload. Review. Redact.
You stay in control from upload to final download.
1
Upload and analyze
Nerato extracts text or uses OCR on pages that need it.
2
Review and edit
Inspect highlights, uncheck false positives and add manual redaction boxes.
3
Apply permanent redaction
Only selected automatic items and your manual rectangles are removed from the generated PDF.
What is PII in a PDF?
Personally identifiable information, often shortened to PII, is information that can identify or relate to an individual. PDFs may contain names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, financial identifiers, tax information and document numbers.
Before sharing a PDF, you may not need to expose every personal detail it contains. Nerato helps locate supported types of sensitive information and lets you review the findings directly in the document before deciding what to redact.
Find PII in scanned PDF documents
Some PDFs contain scanned images instead of searchable text. When OCR is needed, Nerato can recognize text on supported scanned pages and use it in the same sensitive-data detection and review workflow.
Manually redact PII that automatic detection misses
No automatic detector can recognize every possible personal detail or every document layout. Manual redaction lets you mark signatures, handwritten details, unusual identifiers, photographs or other areas that should be removed.
Permanently redact selected personal information
A visual rectangle alone does not necessarily remove the information underneath it. When Nerato generates the final document, selected regions are processed with the PDF redaction engine rather than simply being covered in the preview.
Review PII detections before sharing
Automatic detection and OCR can make mistakes or miss information. Always review the detected items, add any necessary manual redactions and inspect the resulting document before sharing sensitive material.
Frequently asked questions
Can Nerato find PII in scanned PDFs?
Nerato can use OCR when a page contains too little usable embedded text. The recognized text can then be checked for supported sensitive-data types.
Can I redact PII that Nerato does not detect automatically?
Yes. Use manual redaction to mark any additional information or document area that should be removed.
Do I have to redact every detected item?
No. Review the detections and deselect anything you want to keep in the document.
Does the preview itself modify my PDF?
No. Preview highlights are only interface overlays. The PDF is changed only after you press the final redaction button.
How long is my uploaded PDF kept?
Your uploaded PDF is held temporarily for the active processing session so you can review detections and create the redacted document. Temporary sessions expire automatically after 15 minutes, and completing a redaction consumes that original session. To recover from a lost network response, the already-redacted output may remain temporarily available in memory for up to 5 minutes before it expires automatically.
Does Nerato just cover sensitive text with a black box?
No. For selected redactions, Nerato uses PDF redaction operations when creating the final document rather than simply adding a visual overlay. This removes the selected underlying text from the generated PDF instead of leaving it hidden behind a shape.
Can Nerato redact scanned or rotated PDFs?
Yes. When a page does not contain enough usable embedded text, Nerato can use OCR. It can also process supported rotated scanned content so sensitive information can still be detected and reviewed.
Is Nerato free?
Yes. Nerato's basic PDF redaction workflow is free to use and does not require an account.
PDF privacy tools
Explore focused Nerato tools for checking and redacting sensitive information in PDF documents.
Remove selected sensitive content from the generated PDF instead of simply hiding it with a visual overlay.
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The recognized text can then be checked for supported sensitive-data types.", "faq_scan_q": "Can Nerato find PII in scanned PDFs?", "faq_title": "Frequently asked questions", "find_auto": "Surface likely personal information", "find_auto_text": "Use automatic detection to locate supported PII patterns without relying on a manual line-by-line search of the entire document.", "footer": "Automatic privacy redaction for PDFs.", "free_no_account": "Free \u00b7 No account", "hero_text": "Check your PDF for supported types of personally identifiable information such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, IBANs and identity fields. Review every detection before permanent redaction.", "hero_title": "Find and Redact PII from Your PDF", "js_analysis_complete": "Analysis complete.", "js_analysis_failed": "PDF analysis failed.", "js_analyzing": "Analyzing PDF. 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You can still use manual redaction.", "js_none_added": "None added.", "js_ocr_not_needed": "Text PDF \u00b7 OCR not needed", "js_ocr_note_prefix": "OCR note:", "js_ocr_rotated_many": "{count} rotated pages corrected", "js_ocr_rotated_one": "1 rotated page corrected", "js_ocr_used_many": "OCR used on {count} pages", "js_ocr_used_one": "OCR used on 1 page", "js_orientation_corrected": "Page orientation automatically corrected:", "js_page": "Page", "js_pages_all_analyzed": "pages; all", "js_pages_analyzed": "pages were analyzed.", "js_permanent_redaction_notice": "Selected content will be permanently removed from the generated PDF, not just visually covered.", "js_preview_limited": "Preview limited to first", "js_ready": "ready to analyze", "js_redacted": "redacted.", "js_redaction_complete_download_started": "Permanent redaction complete. 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