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Ember Redact is a private PDF-redaction app for macOS. It helps you find, review, and redact sensitive information without uploading your documents or sending them over the internet.

Quick Start

1. Open Ember Redact and select Choose PDF.
2. Choose a text-based PDF from your computer.
3. Select the categories of information you want to detect.
4. Add any names or custom phrases you also want to find.
5. Select Scan File.
6. Review every detected match.
7. Turn individual matches or entire categories on or off.
8. Select Confirm & Process and choose where to save the redacted copy.

Your original PDF is left unchanged.

Information Ember Redact Can Detect

Ember Redact can scan for:

• Social Security numbers and EINs
• Phone numbers
• Bank account numbers
• Postal addresses
• Email addresses
• Credit card numbers
• Driver’s license numbers
• Passport numbers
• Names and exact phrases you enter yourself

Automatic detection is pattern-based and may occasionally miss information or identify something incorrectly. Always review every match and inspect the finished PDF before sharing it.

Private by Design

Everything happens locally on your computer.

Ember Redact:

• Does not upload your documents
• Does not require an account
• Does not use cloud processing
• Does not include analytics or advertising
• Does not track your activity
• Does not send detected information over the internet

The app accesses only the files you explicitly select using the standard macOS open and save windows.

Are Redactions Permanent?

In the finished redacted copy, pages containing approved redactions are rebuilt so the original information is not left underneath a removable black annotation.

This means someone receiving the redacted PDF cannot simply select, copy, move, or delete a black overlay to reveal the information beneath it.

Your original PDF is not modified or deleted. Make sure you share the new file whose name begins with [Redacted], not the original document.

Scanned and Image-Only PDFs

This version of Ember Redact works with PDFs that contain readable text.

Scanned documents and image-only pages may not contain text that the app can analyze. Ember Redact displays a warning when it encounters pages it cannot safely scan.

If you receive this warning:

1. Review the affected pages manually.
2. Do not assume all sensitive information was detected.
3. Verify the finished document carefully before sharing it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is my redacted PDF saved?

Ember Redact asks you where to save the finished file. By default, the filename begins with [Redacted].

Does Ember Redact change my original PDF?

No. The original PDF is left untouched. Ember Redact creates a separate redacted copy.

Why was some information not detected?

Some documents use unusual formatting, fragmented text, custom fonts, or image-based pages. Automatic detection cannot guarantee that every sensitive item will be found.

You can add missed names, numbers, dates, or phrases using the custom-phrase field and scan the document again.

Why was something detected incorrectly?

Some numbers and text can resemble sensitive information. Review the matches and turn off anything that should not be redacted before processing the document.

Does custom-phrase matching distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters?

No. Custom phrases are matched regardless of capitalization.

Can Ember Redact open password-protected PDFs?

Encrypted or password-protected PDFs may need to be unlocked before Ember Redact can scan them.

Does Ember Redact need an internet connection?

No. PDF scanning and redaction work offline.

System Requirements

• macOS 13 or later
• A Mac with Apple silicon
• PDFs that contain readable text. Ember Redact does not perform OCR on scanned or image-only pages.

Refunds

Ember Redact is sold through the Mac App Store, so Apple handles purchases and refunds. To request a refund, visit reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in with your Apple Account, and choose Ember Redact.

Contact Support

Need help, found a problem, or have an idea? Send a message.

When reporting a problem, please include your macOS version, your Ember Redact version, what happened, and the steps that produced it. Please do not send sensitive or confidential documents.

Last updated: October 3, 2026