RedactLocal Support & FAQ
⚠️ Privacy Warning: Never attach or paste unredacted confidential documents, real Social Security Numbers, patient records, or financial data into public GitHub tickets or support emails. Always test using a synthetic sample.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I open RedactLocal on macOS Sequoia / Sonoma?
Because RedactLocal is an independent open-source utility operating 100% offline (no Apple cloud notary telemetry), macOS may show an alert: "Apple could not verify RedactLocal is free of malware".
Fix (Takes 3 seconds):
1. On the alert, click Done.
2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down to the Security section.
3. Click "Open Anyway" and enter your password or Touch ID.
Or run in Terminal:
Fix (Takes 3 seconds):
1. On the alert, click Done.
2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down to the Security section.
3. Click "Open Anyway" and enter your password or Touch ID.
Or run in Terminal:
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/RedactLocal*.dmg
2. Does the Free Web Scanner upload my documents to any server?
Zero bytes are ever uploaded. The Free Web Triage Scanner is compiled into WebAssembly and runs in private browser RAM on your local CPU. You can disconnect your Wi-Fi or turn on Airplane mode and the scanner will continue to audit documents in real-time.
3. Why do black rectangles drawn in Acrobat or Preview fail in court?
Everyday PDF editors only superimpose an opaque black box on layer 5. The underlying character glyph bytecodes (
Tj/TJ) and interactive form fields (/V) remain completely intact inside the file. Anyone who drags their mouse and hits Cmd+C can paste the hidden secrets into a text editor. RedactLocal permanently deletes the bytecodes from the file stream.
4. Is RedactLocal really 100% free and open source?
Yes. RedactLocal is distributed under the permissive MIT License. There are zero paywalls, zero license keys, zero page restrictions, and zero monthly subscriptions. All capabilities—including multi-file batch queues, 7-Oracle verifiers, and court compliance receipts—are completely unlocked for everyone. If RedactLocal saves your practice time, you can optionally support independent open-source maintenance via Buy Me a Coffee.
Contact Support & Community
For bug reports, technical inquiries, or feature requests, open an issue on our public GitHub repository:
GitHub Issue Tracker (mohdashraf010897/redactlocal)