Lex CloakFrequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions that come up most. For step-by-step help, browse the help center.
Privacy and local-first
Where are my documents uploaded for processing?
Nowhere. All scanning, detection, and redaction happen on your computer. Your documents are never uploaded, transmitted to a server, or stored anywhere we can reach — we can't see them. The only thing Lex Cloak sends over the network is a quick license check.
Does it work without an internet connection?
Yes, once your license is activated. Scanning and redacting are fully local. Only license activation — and an occasional license re-check — need a connection.
Where is my in-progress work kept?
While you're working, it lives in a temporary folder your operating system manages, and it's cleared when you close the document. When you save a redacted PDF, Lex Cloak offers to save a small .lexcloak.json session file right next to your original, in your own folder, so you can pick the work back up later. That sidecar holds your editing decisions — not a copy of the document.
Accuracy and its limits
Does Lex Cloak catch everything?
No automated tool can guarantee that, and Lex Cloak doesn't claim to. Think of it as a redaction assistant: it finds common patterns of sensitive information and surfaces them, and you review before sharing. It's deliberately built to over-detect — better to flag a little too much than to miss something — but unusual formats, complex layouts, handwriting, and edge cases can still slip past. The final review is yours.
What do the red and amber boxes mean?
A solid red box is a high-confidence match — Lex Cloak is fairly sure it's sensitive. A dashed amber box is an uncertain match that's asking for your decision. You can move the confidence slider in Settings to show more or fewer of the uncertain ones.
Does it catch handwriting and signatures?
Not automatically. Handwritten notes and signatures aren't reliably detected. Click ✍️ Signatures in the toolbar to run a best-effort signature scan, verify the results visually, and use Draw mode to cover anything it misses. For high-stakes documents, always check handwriting by eye.
Does it just draw black boxes I could copy text out from under?
No. When you redact, Lex Cloak permanently removes the underlying text and content from the saved copy — it doesn't just paint a rectangle over it. (Copy-pasteable text left under a black box is the cause of several well-known redaction leaks; that's not how Lex Cloak works.)
Does it use the text that's already in my PDF?
No. Lex Cloak runs OCR on every page and works from what's actually visible on the page, because a PDF's built-in text layer can be missing, misaligned, or even hidden. Reading the page the way a person sees it is what lets it redact scanned documents and catch text that a built-in layer would miss.
HIPAA
Can I use Lex Cloak with documents covered by HIPAA?
Compliance is something your organization maintains through its processes, with human review as part of that, and no software provides it on its own. Here is what Lex Cloak does toward it: it runs entirely on your machine, so documents are never uploaded to a third party, and it assists with removing many of the HIPAA Safe Harbor identifiers, though not all of them. It does not detect identifiers like full-face photographs, biometric identifiers, or device serial numbers, so review for those yourself before relying on the output.
Do I need a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with you?
Because Lex Cloak runs locally and never receives your documents, we don't handle your protected health information, so there's nothing for us to be a business associate of. Your own obligations are yours to confirm with your compliance advisor.
Pricing and licensing
Do I have to pay to see whether it works for me?
No. Scanning is free and unlimited — open any document and see exactly what's exposed. You pay only when you're ready to redact and export the finished file.
Does one subscription cover both my Mac and my Windows PC?
Yes. Your license is keyed to your email and works on both macOS and Windows. (iOS is on the way — see the platforms question below.)
How do I manage or cancel my subscription?
Billing is handled by Paddle, our payment provider. Use the management link in your purchase or receipt email to update your payment details or cancel any time.
Why can I scan but not redact or export?
If redacting and exporting are paused while scanning still works, your subscription is likely past due, which usually means a card expired or a payment was declined. Open the billing link from your purchase or receipt email, update your payment method with Paddle, and access returns once the payment clears.
Platforms
Which platforms are supported?
macOS and Windows desktop today. An iOS version is in development and will arrive through TestFlight first; it isn't part of the current release.
I'm on Windows and the app won't open, or it mentions WebView2.
Lex Cloak uses Microsoft's Edge WebView2 runtime, which most Windows PCs already have. If it's missing, the app shows a prompt with a link to install it — install it, then reopen Lex Cloak. There's more detail in the troubleshooting guide.
Supported documents
Can it redact scanned documents and faxes?
Yes. Lex Cloak has built-in OCR, so it reads text from scanned, image-based PDFs automatically — no separate step.
How do I redact a password-protected PDF?
Lex Cloak asks you for the password and unlocks the document on your machine to work with it. Like everything else, that happens locally — nothing about the file goes off your computer.
What file types does it work with?
PDFs, including scanned ones. Other document formats aren't supported in this release.
Upgrading from v2
I upgraded and my saved sessions are gone.
If you used Lex Cloak version 1.8 or earlier, saved sessions from that version were removed during the upgrade, because the way sessions are stored changed. Your documents were never touched and nothing else is affected. Choosing Got it on the notice clears the old session data, and you can keep working as normal.
Getting help
How do I get support?
Email help@lexcloak.com. One important thing: please don't send us your actual document. We can't — and don't want to — see your files. Describe the problem in words, or send a synthetic example made with fake data, and we'll work from that.