1. Introduction
2. Install Google Drive Add-on
3. Using Google Drive Add-on: Redact sensitive data from PDFs
4. Redaction Settings You Can Choose
5. Next Steps

Introduction

PDF Redact by cloudHQ helps you automatically detect and remove sensitive information from PDF documents before sharing, storing, or distributing them.

Whether you are handling legal contracts, HR records, financial statements, customer forms, or internal business documents, PDF Redact makes it easy to protect personally identifiable information (PII) and other confidential content.

Key Features:

1. Automatic PII Detection: Detects and redacts common sensitive information such as names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, and more
2. Custom Redaction Rules: Lets you define your own data types to detect, such as invoice numbers, order numbers, tracking numbers, policy numbers, or dollar amounts
3. Exact Text Redaction: Allows you to always redact specific words or phrases, such as a person’s name, a company name, or any fixed identifier
4. Secure PDF Sharing: Helps ensure documents are safe to share externally by permanently removing confidential text
5. Browser-Based Workflow: Runs fully online, so you can redact PDFs without installing desktop software

Use Cases

1. Legal and Compliance Teams: Law firms, compliance officers, and legal departments often need to share contracts, discovery files, court documents, and case records while protecting client identities and confidential data. PDF Redact by cloudHQ makes it easy to remove sensitive details before sending files to third parties.
2. HR and Recruiting: Human resources teams frequently work with resumes, employee files, onboarding forms, and internal documentation that contain names, addresses, emails, phone numbers, and other private information. With PDF Redact by cloudHQ, teams can quickly sanitize documents before sharing them internally or externally.
3. Finance and Operations: Teams handling invoices, payment records, and financial statements can automatically remove bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and other sensitive financial details before distributing documents.

Install Google Drive Add-on

To access PDF Redact in Google Drive, you need to install the add-on. Here’s how:

1. Go to the Google Workspace Marketplace page:
   https://workspace.google.com/marketplace/app/pdf_redact_by_cloudhq/979353047357
   
2. Click the Individual install button to install on your account only. If are a Google Workspace admin click on the Admin install.
3. Follow the prompts and allow all requested permissions. It is important to allow all requested permissions:
   
4. After installing, open Google Drive and refresh the page. When you select a PDF file and click the three dots menu, you should see the PDF Redact option.
   

Using Google Drive Add-on: Redact sensitive data from PDFs

After installing, here’s how to redact a PDF:

1. Go to Google Drive and select the PDF file or files you want to redact. Not that you can select multiple files.
2. Select PDF Redact from the Google Drive menu.

   

3. You will be redirected to the cloudHQ PDF Redact wizard:
   https://www.cloudhq.net/pdf_redact
4. If prompted, sign in to your cloudHQ account.
5. Choose which sensitive information types you want to automatically detect and redact.
   

6. Click on Modify Advance Options to add any custom data types or exact text values that should always be removed.
   
7. Run the redaction process and review the results.
8. Once the process is complete, download the redacted PDF or save it back to Google Drive.

Redaction Settings You Can Choose

PDF Redact by cloudHQ lets users choose exactly what kinds of data should be detected and removed from PDF documents.

Information Types to Redact

You can choose any combination of the following built-in categories:

1. Person names
2. Emails
3. Phone numbers
4. Addresses
5. Social Security numbers
6. Organizations
7. Dates
8. Bank accounts
9. Credit card numbers

Custom Data Types to Redact

You can also define your own custom categories of sensitive information to detect and redact. For example:

1. Order numbers
2. Invoice numbers
3. Dollar amounts
4. Tracking numbers
5. Policy numbers

Exact Text to Always Redact

If there are specific words or phrases you always want removed, you can add exact text strings manually. For example:

1. A customer or employee name
2. A street address
3. A company name
4. A phone number
5. Any fixed identifier or confidential term

This gives you precise control over what gets removed, even if it does not fall into a standard PII category.

Next Steps

For more help and advanced options, see:

1. PDF Redact: FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
2. How do I use Redact PDF by cloudHQ on mobile?
3. How do I redact all files in a folder with a single click?
4. PDF Redact wizard
5. PDF Redact website
6. Google Workspace Marketplace listing