Use case guide

Redact SSN from PDF files

Use this guide when sharing HR, payroll, onboarding, or compliance documents that contain Social Security number patterns.

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Real redaction screenshots

Payroll document with a visible Social Security number before redaction.
Before redaction: Payroll document with a visible Social Security number.
Payroll document after the Social Security number has been fully redacted.
After redaction: Social Security number has been permanently removed.

Step-by-step workflow

  1. Upload the source PDF and open page previews.
  2. Add SSN variants as text patterns such as 123-45-6789 and masked forms.
  3. Draw manual regions for scanned pages where OCR text is not selectable.
  4. Generate the output and run a search in your PDF viewer for remaining SSN tokens.
  5. Share only the redacted output and keep source files in restricted storage.

FAQ

Can this remove SSN across all pages?

Yes. Pattern entries apply across pages in the current document.

What if the SSN is inside an image scan?

Use manual region selection for scanned content or image-based pages.

Should I keep the source document?

Keep originals only in approved internal systems with restricted access.

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Use the live redaction interface to remove sensitive content and generate your final PDF.

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