Lex CloakOffline PDF redaction that runs on your desktop
Lex Cloak redacts PDFs offline, on your own computer. It is an installed desktop app for Mac and Windows, not a website and not a cloud service, so your documents never leave your machine. Detection runs entirely on your machine. No upload, no cloud, no phone-home.
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 it keeps working with no internet connection at all. Lex Cloak is all three.
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, only a periodic license check uses 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.
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 it keeps running 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 the only network request it makes is a periodic license check that carries no document data.
- Does Lex Cloak work without an internet connection?
- Yes. Scanning, detection, and redaction all run locally. A network connection is used only for the periodic license check, not for any part of reading or redacting your document.
- 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.
- Which platforms does Lex Cloak run on?
- Lex Cloak is a desktop app for macOS and Windows. Scanning is free, so you can see what it finds before you decide to redact.
Redact your first PDF offline
Scanning is free, so you can see what Lex Cloak finds before you decide. It installs on Mac and Windows and runs entirely on your computer.