What is offline PDF redaction?

Offline PDF redaction means the whole job, opening the file, finding sensitive text, and saving a clean copy, happens on your own computer instead of on a server. Your document is never uploaded. Lex Cloak works this way, so redaction keeps working even with no internet connection.

Is a desktop app more private than a browser-based redaction tool?

Both can keep your file on your machine, but they ask you to trust different things. A browser tool runs code loaded fresh from the vendor website on every visit. An installed desktop app like Lex Cloak runs a binary you installed once, and none of its network requests, such as the periodic license check, carries document data.

Does Lex Cloak work without an internet connection?

Yes. Scanning, detection, and redaction all run locally, and none of them needs a connection. The app does go online for a few small things. It checks for updates, and it renews your license when it starts, which lets a subscription keep working offline for up to 30 days between renewals. During the free trial it sends three anonymous notes. None of this carries anything from your documents.

What does Lex Cloak detect?

It looks for names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, and other categories of sensitive information, including in scanned PDFs through built-in OCR. Auto-detection is never exhaustive, so Lex Cloak finds matches and you review them before redaction.

Can it redact more than one document at a time?

Yes. You can load several PDFs and redact them in one pass, which is the usual case for a records production or a client file. Each document is still reviewed before anything is burned in.

How do I know the text is really gone and not just covered?

Lex Cloak checks the exported file itself rather than trusting its own working state. It looks for text it targeted that is still extractable, for interactive form fields and annotation residue that carry readable data outside the page, and for machine-readable codes that still decode. If a check finds something, Lex Cloak tells you what it found. For a single document that happens before anything is saved, and you decide whether to go ahead anyway. When a batch is saved as a ZIP, text that can still be read is reported after the ZIP is saved, and a document that fails one of the other checks is left out of it. This confirms that what you marked was removed. It is not a claim that everything sensitive in the document was found, which is why you review the matches first.

Which platforms does Lex Cloak run on?

Lex Cloak is a desktop app for Windows and for Macs with Apple silicon, and one subscription covers up to five of your devices. Scanning is free, and so are your first three redacted documents, so you can try it before you subscribe.

Offline PDF redaction that runs on your desktop

Lex Cloak finds Social Security numbers, names, dates of birth and addresses in a PDF, reads scanned pages with built-in OCR, and redacts one file or a whole batch. After redacting, it reads the exported file back and tells you if anything it targeted can still be read. That work runs on your own computer. It is an installed desktop app for Windows and for Macs with Apple silicon, not a website and not a cloud service, so your documents never leave your machine. Detection runs entirely on your machine, and nothing about your documents is uploaded.

Download Lex Cloak See how it works

Local, offline, on-device: what they mean here

These words all point to the same promise: your document is handled where you control it, not on a machine you do not control. Local and on-device mean the work happens inside the app on your computer. Offline means the work keeps going with no internet connection. Lex Cloak is all three, and nothing about your documents goes over the network.

Desktop app, browser tool, or cloud service

Redaction tools fall into three groups. They differ mostly in where your file is handled and what you have to trust. This compares the categories, not any one product.

	Installed desktop app (Lex Cloak)	Browser-based tool	Cloud service
Where processing happens	On your computer, in an installed app	In your browser, via code loaded from the tool website each visit	On the provider servers
Your file is uploaded	No	No, it is processed in the page	Yes
Works with no internet	Yes, and your document never goes over the network	It has to load the page first	No
What you trust	A binary you installed once	Code reloaded from the website each visit	The provider servers and policies

How Lex Cloak keeps redaction offline

Detection runs on your computer, not on a cloud service. It marks names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and addresses, including on scanned pages through built-in OCR. Lex Cloak finds matches and you review them before redaction, because auto-detection is never exhaustive. When you save, the text under each black box is removed from the file, not just hidden, and your original document stays untouched.

The app does go online for a few small things, and none of them carries anything from your documents. It checks for updates. With a subscription, it renews your license each time it starts, and it keeps working offline for up to 30 days between renewals. During the free trial, it sends three anonymous notes.

Want the details? See how it works, the private-by-design page, and the detection profiles tuned for healthcare, legal, FOIA, and other documents.

Related guides

Questions

What is offline PDF redaction?: Offline PDF redaction means the whole job, opening the file, finding sensitive text, and saving a clean copy, happens on your own computer instead of on a server. Your document is never uploaded. Lex Cloak works this way, so redaction keeps working even with no internet connection.
Is a desktop app more private than a browser-based redaction tool?: Both can keep your file on your machine, but they ask you to trust different things. A browser tool runs code loaded fresh from the vendor website on every visit. An installed desktop app like Lex Cloak runs a binary you installed once, and none of its network requests, such as the periodic license check, carries document data.
Does Lex Cloak work without an internet connection?: Yes. Scanning, detection, and redaction all run locally, and none of them needs a connection. The app does go online for a few small things. It checks for updates, and it renews your license when it starts, which lets a subscription keep working offline for up to 30 days between renewals. During the free trial it sends three anonymous notes. None of this carries anything from your documents.
What does Lex Cloak detect?: It looks for names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, and other categories of sensitive information, including in scanned PDFs through built-in OCR. Auto-detection is never exhaustive, so Lex Cloak finds matches and you review them before redaction.
Can it redact more than one document at a time?: Yes. You can load several PDFs and redact them in one pass, which is the usual case for a records production or a client file. Each document is still reviewed before anything is burned in.
How do I know the text is really gone and not just covered?: Lex Cloak checks the exported file itself rather than trusting its own working state. It looks for text it targeted that is still extractable, for interactive form fields and annotation residue that carry readable data outside the page, and for machine-readable codes that still decode. If a check finds something, Lex Cloak tells you what it found. For a single document that happens before anything is saved, and you decide whether to go ahead anyway. When a batch is saved as a ZIP, text that can still be read is reported after the ZIP is saved, and a document that fails one of the other checks is left out of it. This confirms that what you marked was removed. It is not a claim that everything sensitive in the document was found, which is why you review the matches first.
Which platforms does Lex Cloak run on?: Lex Cloak is a desktop app for Windows and for Macs with Apple silicon, and one subscription covers up to five of your devices. Scanning is free, and so are your first three redacted documents, so you can try it before you subscribe.

Redact your first PDF offline

Scanning is free, and so are your first three redacted documents. It installs on Windows and on Macs with Apple silicon, and runs entirely on your computer.

Download Lex Cloak See all features