Redact Documents in RapidReview

  • Updated on Aug 7, 2025
  • 8 minute(s) read
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You can redact individual documents or batch-redact multiple documents in RapidReview. The steps for applying redactions within a document are the same as for the main redaction tool. However, there are several key differences in the overall process:

  • Any changes made to the document will be saved automatically. This means you can leave the redaction page at any time and return later and all your redactions will be there.

  • Redactions made in RapidReview will be first applied in draft form. The total count of draft redactions in a document will be shown under the document name in the documents list in RapidReview. Before releasing the document you will need to finalize the document to burn in the redactions.

  • While redacting a document you can also leave comments for yourself and other users. If there are comments on a document, the word 'Comment' will be shown under the document name in the documents list in RapidReview.

Important Notes

  • Any user can view redactions and comments made by any other user on the document.

  • Publishers and Staff users can only edit and delete their own redactions and comments. If you hold either role and are responsible for reviewing the draft redactions, you will need to ask the user who added the draft redactions to make any changes to them.

  • Admins and Department Admins can edit or delete any redaction on documents they have access to.

  • You can redact a document while it is in any of the document stages except for Ready for Release. If other people are working on this request with you, you may want to designate documents as in the "Needs Redaction" stage so they know which ones to work on.

Before You Redact: Flattening a PDF or Image Document

  • PDFs or image files created from certain software can be very large and complex, containing multiple layers of information, interactive elements, and annotations.

  • Flattening a document combines all of its contents into a single layer, making it uneditable and non-interactive, reducing its file size, removing attachments, and ensuring consistent viewing.

  • Flattening a document will reduce potential errors when viewing and redacting in NextRequest

    • We recommend flattening any PDFs or images that have complex layer structures.

Flatten a Document

  1. Open the request

  2. Click Launch RapidReview (wrench icon) on a request Launch rapidreview.

  3. Hover over the document card, click ellipses (three dots), and select Flatten file Flatten file option in menu.

  4. Click the Flatten document button on the pop-up Flatten document button.

  5. Once the flattening process is completed, a message pop-up will appear to indicate success. The flattened document will appear at the end of the documents list with the text "-flattened.pdf" appended to the end of the document name.

Redact a Document

  1. Open the request Select request.

  2. Click Launch RapidReview (wrench icon) on a request Launch RapidReview.

  3. Click on a document name to open it Document link.

  4. Select a redaction option Redaction options in the top left corner of the document.

    • Redaction Block (Box icon): Drag a redaction block/rectangle over the part of the page you want to redact

      • Click this box icon once (fills in dark gray) to apply this redaction type one time

      • Click this box icon twice (fills in white) to continually apply this redaction type

    • Text Selection Redaction (Pen icon): Select text to redact

    • Redact Full Pages (Paper icon): Select to redact an entire page

  5. (Optional) Click the Add comment button to comment on the redaction Add comment blue button in the right corner.

  6. Click the Finalize button at the top right of the document. Otherwise, you will need to return to the document later to finalize redactions before the document can be released. Finalize blue rectangle button in right corner of the document.

Redact All Instances of a Type of Information

  1. Open the request Select request.

  2. Click Launch RapidReview (wrench icon) Launch RapidReview.

  3. Select the document that you want to redact Document name link.

  4. Click the Search button at the top of the redaction window Search button in document header.

  5. Select a redaction option:

    • To redact all instances of a word or phrase, enter the text you want to redact in the Search Document field Search document box.

    • To redact all instances of a type of information, click the triangle icon in the search field, then check one or more options in the drop-down that appears (USA Social Security Number, USA Phone Number, Email, USA Postal Code, Date) Arrow icon and filter options in the drop-down.

  6. Click the Search icon (magnifying glass) Magnifying glass icon.

  7. Click the Redact button above the list of results on the left Redact button in left sidebar.

  8. Click the Redact All button Redact all link below search results.

  9. (Optional) Select a Redaction Reason from the drop-down Redaction reason dropdown.

  10. Click the Finalize button at the top right of the document. Otherwise, you will need to return to the document later to finalize redactions before the document can be released. Finalize blue rectangle button.

Batch Redact Documents

You can save time by redacting the same word, phrase, or type of data across multiple documents at once. Like with regular redactions in RapidReview, batch redactions will initially be applied in draft form. You can then finalize these draft redacted documents either one at a time or as a batch.

Important Notes

We recommend redacting no more than 500 documents at once. Above that number, you may start to see performance issues. Be sure to wait until a batch redaction is complete before trying to take any other actions on those documents, otherwise, you may see unexpected behavior.

Not all documents can be batch redacted. In particular, image files and PDFs that have not had Optical Character Recognition (OCR) applied can not be batch redacted and will need to be redacted individually. Look for the label 'Batch Redactable' next to the document name to see if the document can be batch redacted.

Batch redactable text on document card.

Instructions

  1. Open the request Select request.

  2. Click Launch RapidReview (wrench icon) Launch RapidReview.

  3. Check the documents you wish to redact and click the Batch Redact icon (wrench) in the toolbar Check boxes next to documents and click the wrench icon.

  4. Select a Redaction Type and/or a Redaction phrase to batch redact Redaction type or phrase drop downs.

  5. (Optional) Select an existing folder from the drop-down or type a new name in the field and click enter Place in folder drop down.

  6. (Optional) Select a Redaction reason to be applied to all batch redactions that are added Set a redaction reason textbox.

  7. Click the Start Redaction button Start redaction button in the bottom right corner.

    Note:

    Depending on the number of documents selected and the types of redactions, it may take up to an hour for the draft redactions to be applied

Delete a Draft Redaction from a Document

Users can only delete draft redactions that they applied themselves. If you want redactions removed that were made by another user, you will need to ask them to do so (for example by adding a comment to the document)

Important Note

  • This is for draft redactions only. If the redactions have been finalized you cannot remove them and will need to start over with the original file

Instructions

  1. Open the request Select request.

  2. Click Launch RapidReview (wrench icon) Launch RapidReview.

  3. Select a redaction in the document Redacted text on document.

  4. Click the trashcan icon that appears in the top right of the pop-up window Trashcan icon.

Add a Comment to a Document

Comments are a great way to document questions, ask for feedback, or record thoughts to be reviewed by yourself and others at a later point. You can reply to both your own comments and comments left by other users. However, you can only delete your own comments. All comments will be deleted automatically when the document is finalized.

Instructions

  1. Open the request Select request.

  2. Click Launch RapidReview (wrench icon) Launch RapidReview.

  3. Select an existing draft redaction Redacted text.

  4. Click the Add Comment button on the pop-up window Add comment blue button.

  5. Type your comment into the box and click the Post button Enter a comment and click blue rectangle post button.

Change the Redaction Type to a Rectangle

When you run a search in RapidReview or the standard redaction tool, it applies a text redaction to the page. Text redactions cannot be moved freely on the page. However, sometimes you may need to do this if you have applied Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to the document, or the redactions need to cover an additional area on the page.

Instructions

  1. Open the request Select request.

  2. Click Launch RapidReview (wrench icon) Launch RapidReview.

  3. Click on the document that has draft redactions you need to change Document name link.

  4. Select the draft redaction and in the menu pop up click on the square selector iconRectangle icon on redaction pop up.

  5. Click on the redaction and drag it to a new location and change the size/shape as needed Configure redaction blackout.

Finalize Redactions on a Document

Important Notes

  • Finalizing your document burns all redactions into the document and you will be unable to remove or edit them. All comments will be deleted.

  • Hyperlinks are removed from finalized documents.

  • Attachments are not removed from finalized documents.

    • To remove attachments from a PDF, you must first flatten the file.

    • Attachments to EML or HTML files can be extracted to pull out the component files.

Instructions

  1. Open the request Select request.

  2. Click Launch RapidReview (wrench icon) Launch RapidReview.

  3. Find the file you want to finalize in the list of documents/files and select it Document link card.

    Note:

    The document will be in the same stage as before you added draft redactions to it. This is a change from before the draft redaction was released - previously the document would have been automatically moved to the Redacted stage

  4. Click the Finalize button at the top right of the document window Finalize blue rectangle button in the top right corner of the document.

    Note:

    If you don't want to generate a redaction log, click Print instead to save the file as a PDF and then upload it to the request.

  5. Click the Finalize document button in the pop-up menu that says By finalizing your document you will burn all redactions into the document and you will be unable to remove or edit them. All comments will be deleted. Are you sure you want to continue?Finalize document blue rectangle button.

    Note:

    You will be shown a warning if there are any redactions that don't have redaction reasons applied.

  6. View the document on the Redacted tab Redacted tab.

Finalize Redactions on Multiple Documents

Important Notes

  • The Finalize button will not appear when multiple documents are selected if any of the selected documents have no redactions, are archive file types, or have already been finalized

Instructions

  1. Open the request Select request.

  2. Click Launch RapidReview (wrench icon) Launch RapidReview.

  3. Check the documents you wish to finalize redaction on Checkboxes next to documents.

    Note:

    The document will be in the same stage as before you added draft redactions to it. This is a change from before the draft redaction was released. Previously the document would have been automatically moved to the Redacted stage.

  4. Click the Finalize button in the document viewer to the right Rectangle finalize button in the document viewer.

    Note:

    Uncheck the Attach redaction log to finalized documents option if you don't wish to generate a redaction log

  5. Click the Finalize documents button in the pop-up menu that says By finalizing these documents you will burn all redactions into the document and you will be unable to remove or edit them. All comments will be deleted. Are you sure you want to continue?blue rectangle finalize documents button on pop up.

    Note:

    You will be shown a warning if there are any redactions that don't have redaction reasons applied.

  6. View the documents on the Redacted tab Redacted tab.

Redaction Logs

Redaction logs are important for communicating why certain information has been redacted from files that you release to the requester and/or the public. In some jurisdictions, a redaction or exemption log may be required if you are redacting files. We recommend reviewing your local laws about your obligation to produce redaction or exemption logs. Learn more about creating custom redaction reasons to populate the redaction log.

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