Question 1

What is text redaction and when is it used?

Accepted Answer

Text redaction is the process of obscuring or removing sensitive information from a document before sharing it. It is widely used in legal, medical, and government documents to hide personal data such as names, addresses, social security numbers, and financial details, while keeping the non-sensitive surrounding context readable.

Question 2

What is the difference between the black bar and custom replacement modes?

Accepted Answer

The black bar replacement (`████`) preserves the original character count — each removed character is replaced with one black square — which maintains the visual structure of the document. The custom string replacement uses a fixed string like `[REDACTED]` regardless of the original length, which changes the document's visual structure but is clearer about the presence of redacted content.

Question 3

Can I use regular expressions for redaction?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Enable the 'Use Regex' toggle and enter a valid JavaScript regular expression in the patterns area (one per line). For example, `\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}` would match US Social Security Number patterns. The `g` (global) and optionally `i` (case-insensitive) flags are applied automatically.

Question 4

Is case-sensitive matching supported?

Accepted Answer

By default, matching is case-insensitive, so redacting 'John' will also remove 'john' and 'JOHN'. Enable the 'Case Sensitive' toggle to match only exact casing. This is useful when redacting acronyms or codes that might conflict with common words if matched case-insensitively.

Question 5

Is the original text sent to any server?

Accepted Answer

No. All redaction happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your text and patterns never leave your device. This makes the tool safe to use with confidential documents.

Text Redactor

Frequently Asked Questions

Comments & Feedback