How it works
The PDF is processed right where it's opened
Lockpage's code runs right in your tab, so your file doesn't need to travel anywhere. Below: how this differs from typical online services and how to verify it yourself.
Comparison
Typical online converters take your file first
iLovePDF, Smallpdf and similar services process documents on their servers. For a contract, a medical record or an employee's passport, that already counts as a data transfer.
Typical online converter
- The file goes to another company's server, often in another country
- How long the copy stays there — hours or days — you can't check
- File names and text may remain in logs and backups
- Each such service needs separate approval from your security team
Lockpage
- The file is processed in a browser tab on your computer
- There is no copy on our server — nothing to delete or audit
- We never receive or store file names or text
- One fact is enough for approval: files are never transferred
Two modes
Local by default, cloud only when you decide
Cloud is for very large files and slow computers. You turn it on yourself, for one operation, and the copy is deleted after 60 minutes.
Local. The file stays on your device: processing happens right in the browser, not a single byte of content goes to the server.
Mode: local
Local — by default
- The file is read into the browser tab's memory and processed there: pdf.js and pdf-lib run on your CPU.
- Neither the content nor the file name is sent to the server. For the Free limit only the tool, page count and size are sent.
- Redaction, password and signature work only this way — they have no cloud switch.
01
You open a tool
Your browser downloads the processing code from our site — like any web page. Nothing to install.
02
You choose a PDF
The file is read into the tab's memory. It's a regular file pick, like in a text editor — not an upload.
03
You download the result
The finished document is saved from the browser to your disk. Close the tab and nothing stays in memory.
Redaction
What exactly happens during redaction
- Select the text you want to hide with the mouse, or draw a box over scans, photos and signatures. The text underneath is removed, not just painted over.
- The area is painted over on the page image, not just covered with a box on top of the text.
- The text layer, hidden text, annotations and form fields are removed from the page.
- Document metadata, bookmarks and forms are not carried over to the result.
An honest limitation
A page with redacted content becomes an image: its text can no longer be selected. Other pages stay unchanged. All limitations
Check it yourself
Don't take our word for it — open DevTools
- 1
Open PDF compression and press F12 (on Mac: Cmd+Option+I).
- 2
Go to the Network tab and enable Preserve log.
- 3
Choose a PDF and run the tool.
- 4
Look at the requests: none of them contains file content. On Free there is one short request that counts the limit — open it and see that it only has the tool name, page count and size.
| Name | Type | Size | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| compress | document | 18.2 kB | tool page |
| chunk-pdf-lib.js | script | 212 kB | processing code |
| pdf.worker.min.mjs | script | 1,3 MB | pdf.js, from our domain |
| compress (action) | fetch | 0.4 kB | Free counter: tool, pages, bytes |