How to redact a tax document
Tax documents are dense with identifiers: your SSN, an employer's EIN, account numbers, wages, and your address. When a lender, landlord, or accountant asks for a W-2, 1099, or return, they rarely need all of it.
Redacting the sensitive fields first protects you from identity theft if the file is forwarded or stored carelessly. Here's how — and because tax forms are so sensitive, do it with a tool that never uploads the file.
Step by step
- 1Open the redactor — nothing to install
Go to the PDF Redactly redactor in any modern browser (desktop or phone). There's no app to download and no account needed to start.
- 2Drop your PDF onto the page
Drag the file in or click to choose it. It loads straight into the browser tab — there is no upload endpoint, so the document never travels to a server.
- 3Let auto-detection find the sensitive data
PDF Redactly scans the document and flags 30+ categories — names, SSNs, emails, phone numbers, account numbers, dates of birth, and more — so you don't have to find every instance by hand.
- 4Review and adjust
Add your own phrases to redact everywhere they appear, click any word on the page to mark it, or drag the edge of a redaction box to extend or shrink it. You stay in control of every redaction.
- 5Apply and download
Applying the redactions destroys the underlying text and image data inside each box in the output PDF — it isn't just visually covered. Copy-paste from the saved file reveals nothing.
What to redact on a tax form
Usually the full SSN (leave the last 4 if needed for matching), the employer or payer EIN, account numbers, and your home address if it isn't required. PDF Redactly auto-detects SSNs, account numbers, names, and addresses; use click-to-mark or a custom phrase for anything specific like an EIN.
Keep the original safe
Because the redaction runs in your browser, the tax document is never uploaded. The saved copy has the underlying data destroyed inside each box, so it can't be recovered by the recipient.
FAQ
Open the W-2 in PDF Redactly, let it auto-detect the SSN, and apply the redaction. The number is permanently destroyed in the saved PDF, and the file is never uploaded.
Often the recipient only needs the last four to match records. PDF Redactly lets you drag a redaction's edge to keep exactly the digits you want visible.
Free, in your browser, with automatic detection. Your file never leaves your device.
Open the redactor