Check a redacted document

A black rectangle or black highlighting hides nothing. The tool looks for what is still in the file, PDF or Word.

In a PDF

Text under the black areas: a rectangle placed over text that still exists is the most common mistake. Recovered text is blurred on screen; you choose whether to show it.
Metadata: author, title, subject, keywords.
Annotations, comments and form fields, which often carry a name.
Attachments and JavaScript code.
Earlier versions: an edited PDF often keeps the previous version, with what has been redacted since.

Text highlighted or shaded in black: this is the usual way to “redact” in Word, and the text stays underneath. It is blurred on screen; you choose whether to show it.
Tracked changes: deleted text stays in the file until the changes are accepted, with the name of its author.
Comments, hidden text and text written in white: invisible on the page, present in the file.
Document properties: author, last modified by, company, template path.
Image alt text, link addresses, and charts or embedded objects, whose content is not read.

Text in an image: a scan redacted with a marker pen is an image, there is no text underneath.
A person recognisable through context: only a human reread can see that.