redacted.app

What is Redacted?

Redacted is a browser-based image redaction tool. You drop or paste a photo or screenshot, and it blurs faces, blacks out text, or covers details like ID numbers — all locally on your device. Nothing is uploaded, there's no account, and it's free.

What it does

• Automatic face detection: AI finds every face in an image so you can hide them in one click.
• Manual redaction: Blur, pixelate, or black out anything the AI misses — text, license plates, addresses, tattoos.
• Metadata stripping: Exported images have their metadata removed automatically, including GPS/location data.
• No upload, works offline: Processing runs in your browser, so sensitive documents and family photos never touch a server.
• Formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP.
• Platforms: Works in desktop and mobile browsers; native Mac and iOS apps exist for offline use and batch folder processing.

Who it's for

Anyone sharing images that contain private information: people posting portraits who want faces obscured, parents covering kids' faces in family photos, or anyone posting a photo of an ID, bill, or document that needs details hidden before it goes public.

Trade-offs to weigh

Browser-based redaction is convenient and private, but it's manual-ish work — you still review the result, because automated face detection can miss profiles, partially hidden faces, or faces in reflections. For one-off images, the web version is the fastest path. If you're redacting many files repeatedly, a native app with batch processing is the more practical choice.

A concrete next step

If you have a screenshot with an account number or address visible, paste it into Redacted, let the AI flag faces, then manually black out the text fields and download. Check the exported file at full zoom to confirm nothing sensitive remains before sharing.

How does Redacted's on-device AI automatically find faces and text in my images?

Redacted uses on-device AI to scan your image for faces and text as soon as you add it, then lets you hide what it finds with a click. The processing happens in your browser or in the native Mac/iOS app, so the image itself is not sent to a server for analysis.

H3 What "on-device" means in practice

• In the browser: the detection model runs locally in your browser tab. Redacted's page states nothing is uploaded and the tool works offline.
• In the native Mac and iOS apps: the same local-AI approach is used, with the Mac app adding batch workflows for whole folders.
• The practical trade-off: you get privacy and offline use, but detection quality and speed depend on your device rather than a large cloud model. Very large images or older phones may take longer.

H3 Typical workflow

1. Drop or paste an image, or pick a sample.
2. Redacted highlights detected faces automatically; text detection is also part of its on-device AI.
3. You apply a redaction style — the page shows pixelation, emoji covers, and black bars as examples.
4. Download the result. The page says exported images have metadata, including GPS/location data, stripped automatically.

H3 A concrete scenario You photograph a passport or a child's school form and want to post it in a group chat. Instead of manually drawing boxes over every name and face, you drop the image in, let the AI mark the faces and text regions, then adjust or confirm the redactions before exporting. This is faster than manual blurring and reduces the chance of missing a detail.

H3 Choosing between browser and app

• Use the browser tool for one-off images on any device, including mobile.
• Use the Mac or iOS app if you need offline-first work, batch processing of folders, or prefer a native interface.
• Both share the same core promise: local AI detection, no account required.

For a quick test, try the sample image on the site first to see how accurately it detects faces and text in a photo similar to yours. If detection misses something important, plan to review and add manual redactions rather than relying on automation alone.

Can I redact photos on my phone or do I need to install the Mac app?

You can redact photos on your phone — no Mac app required. Redacted runs in a mobile browser, so you can open it on your phone, drop or paste an image, and redact it there. The Mac app is an optional extra, not a prerequisite.

What the browser version does

• Works on desktop and mobile browsers.
• AI finds faces automatically; you can also blur, black out or pixelate details manually.
• Opens JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP files.
• Exported images have metadata, including GPS/location data, stripped automatically.
• No account, and the page states images are processed on your device rather than uploaded.

H3. When the Mac app makes more sense The native Mac app is aimed at people who want offline use, batch processing of whole folders, and the same on-device AI detection. If you are redacting one or two screenshots on the go, the browser is the faster route. If you are clearing a folder of family photos or work documents, a desktop batch workflow saves repeated manual steps.

A practical phone workflow

1. Open Redacted in your phone browser.
2. Paste or select the photo — screenshots from your camera roll work fine.
3. Let the AI mark faces, then add manual blocks over text, ID numbers or addresses.
4. Download the redacted copy and share that version, keeping the original unedited.

One caveat: redaction is only as good as your review. Zoom in before sharing, because small text or a partially covered face can survive a quick blur. If you want a second opinion on the approach, Redacted itself shows before-and-after examples for portraits, family photos and IDs.

What happens to the GPS and metadata in my images after I redact them?

Redacted says exported images have their metadata, including GPS/location data, stripped automatically. So when you redact a photo and download the result, the location tag and other embedded metadata are removed as part of the export — you don't have to run a separate cleanup step.

That matters most in a few common cases:

• Photos taken on a phone and shared publicly. Camera apps often embed GPS coordinates, so a picture of your street or a child's school can reveal where it was taken even after faces are blurred.
• Screenshots of documents or receipts. Metadata can carry device and app details you'd rather not hand over.
• Anything posted to a marketplace, forum or dating profile. Location data is the detail people forget, because it's invisible in the image itself.

A useful next step: after downloading a redacted image, check the exported file's properties (on macOS, Get Info; on Windows, right-click → Properties → Details) and confirm the GPS field is empty. That takes a few seconds and verifies the cleanup on the specific file you're about to share, rather than trusting it in general.

One caveat worth understanding: stripping metadata removes hidden information, but it doesn't undo what's visible in the pixels. A street sign, a house number, a distinctive landmark or a reflection in a window can still identify a place. If location privacy is the real goal, redact those visible cues too — and remember that a blur or pixelation is only as strong as the area you cover.

If you want a second tool to cross-check metadata removal, ExifTool is a long-standing command-line utility for reading and writing image metadata, and Verexif is a browser-based option that displays and removes EXIF data.

Which image file formats can I open and redact in Redacted?

Redacted accepts four image formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP. That covers the common cases — phone photos (JPEG), screenshots (PNG), web images (WebP), and simple graphics or short animations (GIF).

A few practical notes drawn from what the site states:

• JPEG and PNG are the ones you'll use most: photos and screenshots respectively. Both work well for face blurring and text blackouts.
• WebP is worth knowing about because many images saved from websites or messaging apps arrive in this format, and not every redaction tool opens it.
• GIF support is listed, but if you're redacting an animated GIF, expect the redaction to apply to the image you see rather than being a specialized frame-by-frame animation editor — for anything beyond a static frame, test the export before relying on it.
• Exported files come back with metadata, including GPS/location data, stripped automatically — useful when you're sharing a photo taken on a phone.

Next step: if your file won't open, it's likely a format outside this list — HEIC from an iPhone camera roll is the usual culprit, and the fix is to convert it to JPEG first. If you're working with a whole folder of images rather than one at a time, the site points to its Mac app for batch workflows, while the browser version handles single images with no install or account.

For a broader set of image tools, you can also compare with Squoosh for format conversion before redacting.

How do I batch redact an entire folder of photos offline on Mac?

Batch redaction of a whole folder is a desktop-app job, not a browser job. The browser version of Redacted handles one image at a time — drop or paste it, redact, download. The Mac app is the one described as doing batch workflows, with on-device AI finding faces and text and nothing leaving your machine, so it fits an offline folder-at-a-time routine.

A practical workflow on Mac:

1. Install the native app from the App Store, then disconnect from Wi-Fi or turn off networking to confirm it still works — offline operation is the point.
2. Copy the folder you want to process to a working directory rather than editing originals in place.
3. Point the app at the folder and let its face and text detection mark candidates.
4. Review every auto-detection before exporting. Detection is a first pass, not a guarantee: profile faces, faces in shadow, small background faces, and stylized text are the usual misses, and you should add manual boxes for anything the AI skipped.
5. Export to a separate output folder so you keep an untouched original set.
6. Spot-check a few exports at full size to confirm the redaction is opaque or blurred enough, and that metadata has been stripped.

Two trade-offs worth knowing. Automatic detection saves the most time on large batches of similar photos (event photos, ID scans, screenshots), but it saves the least on unusual images, where manual review dominates. And blur is a weaker redaction than a solid block for text — blur can sometimes be partially reversed; black boxes or pixelation are safer for IDs, account numbers, and addresses.

If you only have a handful of images and no Mac app, the browser tool covers it: it works offline in the browser, needs no account, and strips metadata including GPS on export. For a wider look at the tool itself, see Redacted.