2suite

What Is Document Redaction?

Document redaction is the process of permanently removing or obscuring sensitive information from a file before sharing it. Common targets include personally identifiable information (PII) such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, phone numbers, and email addresses, as well as case-specific text like client names, patient identifiers, or privileged legal content.

How Does 2redact Work?

2redact runs a different pipeline for each file type, but all of them execute 100% in your browser. Here is the full workflow: Drop or select a file — PDFs, images, CSVs, and DOCX documents are all supported. Configure redaction targets — enable the built-in PII patterns you want (SSN, credit card, phone, email, passport) and add any custom text strings or regex patterns.

What Types of PII Does 2redact Detect Automatically?

2redact ships with six built-in patterns that cover the most common personally identifiable information categories: Social Security Numbers (SSNs) — US format (###-##-####). Credit card numbers — 13-19 digit sequences matching major issuers. Phone numbers — US, Canadian, and common international formats. Email addresses — any standard email pattern. IPv4 addresses — dotted-decimal notation.

Which File Formats Does 2redact Support?

2redact supports four broad categories of documents. PDFs are processed page-by-page through PDF.js, then OCR-scanned and converted to redacted PNG images — this guarantees that text cannot be extracted from behind the redaction bars. Image files (JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, WebP) are OCR-scanned directly on a canvas and the matched pixel regions are painted black.

Why Use a Client-Side Redactor Instead of an Online Service?

Most online redaction services upload your document to a remote server, run the redaction there, and store the result in a cloud bucket. That model exposes sensitive files to the server operator, their logs, their employees, and any downstream retention policies. For regulated industries — legal, medical, financial, government — this is often a compliance non-starter. 2redact never uploads anything.