PDF privacy basics
What to check before sharing a PDF, and what a browser-local tool can and cannot promise.
Know the difference
Cropping changes the visible page box. Redaction must remove the underlying content. Flattening changes supported form and annotation behavior. These are different jobs and the tool pages label them separately.
Inspect before sharing
Use metadata editing and the sanitize task to remove the declared categories you select. Verification reports structure, encryption and signature states separately; it does not turn unknown trust into trusted verification.
Keep the boundary visible
Local tasks do not upload your file. Server tasks require a consent check and use short-lived results. Temporary deletion is lifecycle management, not a claim of physical SSD erasure.
Crop is not redaction
Use Crop PDF only to change the visible box. Use Redact PDF when the underlying text must go. Flatten changes supported forms; sanitize resets declared metadata.
Related tools
Open Redact PDF, Sanitize PDF, Verify PDF and Unlock PDF from the PDF hub. Local tasks stay in the tab. Password and OCR tasks are server jobs with a 15-minute result TTL.