Skip to content

How to automatically redact phone numbers, emails and PAN in a PDF

By the Fusion Office team · Updated

Quick answer

Open Auto-redact personal data, choose the PDF, tick the kinds of data to remove (Aadhaar, PAN, phone numbers, emails, card numbers, GSTIN, IFSC or IBAN) and press Find & redact. Every match is deleted from the file and covered with a black box. Review the list of what was removed before you share the document.

Redact step by step

  1. 1Open Auto-redact personal data and choose the PDF.
  2. 2Tick what to find: Aadhaar, PAN, card numbers, emails, phone numbers, GSTIN, IFSC or IBAN.
  3. 3Press Find & redact and go through the list of matches.
  4. 4Download the redacted PDF and open it to check.

Everything runs in your browser. A tool that finds personal data shouldn't need to see it on a server.

How it avoids false matches

Numbers are checked, not just pattern-matched: Aadhaar numbers and card numbers have built-in check digits, so a random 12-digit invoice number isn't mistaken for an Aadhaar. PAN, GSTIN and IFSC are matched by their fixed formats.

What it can't see

  • Scanned pages are images, so there's no text to search. Run OCR PDF first, or draw redaction boxes by hand.
  • Names and addresses don't follow a fixed pattern. Remove them with Redact PDF, which deletes the exact words you type.
  • Unusual formats, such as a phone number split across two lines, may be missed. Always look over the result.

To check a document for hidden details as well (author name, comments, attachments), run it through the Privacy scanner. For Aadhaar copies specifically, see Masked Aadhaar.

Frequently asked questions

Is the redacted text really gone?

Yes. Matches are deleted from the page content, so they can't be copied, searched or recovered from the downloaded PDF.

Can I keep the last four digits of a card or Aadhaar number?

Auto-redact removes the whole number. To keep the last digits, use the Redact tool in the PDF editor and cover only the first digits.