Redaction: Remove Sensitive Content from a PDF

Redaction lets you black out personal data, customer names, pricing or sensitive clauses before a document goes to bidders. Peony saves a new PDF with everything under your boxes permanently removed — not just hidden behind a black rectangle.

Plan availability: redaction is included on Deal Team and Enterprise. See Plans & pricing.

Steps

Open the data room and click the PDF to open it.
Click Redact at the top right. The toolbar changes to Save redactions and Cancel redactions.
Drag a box over the text or area to remove. Draw as many boxes as you need, and use the page arrows at the bottom to move through the document.
- To adjust a box, drag its corner handles.
- To remove a box, click it and choose Delete.
Click Save redactions.
Choose what happens to the original in Save redacted PDF? ("This creates a new redacted file"):
- Keep old file — the original stays in the room, and the redacted copy is added next to it.
- Delete old file — only the redacted copy remains. Deleting is permanent.
- Cancel — go back and keep editing.

The redacted copy is saved as <file name> - Redacted.pdf in the same folder. The redacted area shows as a solid black box.

What Redaction Removes

Everything inside a box is taken out of the new file:

The text — it can't be selected, copied, searched, or recovered from the redacted copy.
Links inside the box.

Bookmarks and the rest of the document stay as they were.

If You Keep the Original

The original and the redacted copy are two separate files. Before you share:

Set the original to No access for every group that should only see the redacted version. See Permissions: view, download, upload.
A common M&A pattern: early-round bidders see the redacted copy, and the shortlist sees the original — two groups, one room, no rebuild.

Tips

Check every page before saving. Boxes apply to the page you draw them on.
Redact before you share. Visitors who opened the original earlier have already seen it.
Word, Excel and PowerPoint: export to PDF, upload the PDF, then redact.

Common Questions

Is redacted text actually removed, or just covered?

Removed. Peony saves a new PDF with the text under each box taken out of the file, so it can't be copied, searched, or recovered from the redacted copy.

What happens to the original file?

When you save, you choose Keep old file or Delete old file. If you keep it, set it to No access for any group that should only see the redacted copy.

Can I redact Word or Excel files?

Redaction works on PDFs. Export the document to PDF, upload it, then redact.

I made a mistake before saving. How do I undo it?

Click the box and choose Delete, or click Cancel redactions to leave without changing anything.