PII Scrubber (Redact Personal Data)
The PII Scrubber finds and redacts personally identifiable information in any te
The PII Scrubber finds and redacts personally identifiable information in any te
How to use PII Scrubber (Redact Personal Data)
- Paste the text you want to clean into the input box, or load the sample.
- Choose which data types to detect and how to replace each match.
- Copy or download the scrubbed text, then review it before sharing.
About PII Scrubber (Redact Personal Data)
The PII Scrubber finds and redacts personally identifiable information in any text you paste — emails, phone numbers, US Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, IPv4/IPv6 addresses, MAC addresses, URLs, and dates. Pick which categories to scrub and how to replace them: a labeled token like [EMAIL], solid block characters, an asterisk mask that preserves length, or full removal. Every match is counted per category so you can see exactly what was caught.
It works by pattern matching (regular expressions), with a couple of extra safeguards — credit card candidates are only redacted when they pass the Luhn checksum, and overlapping matches are resolved left to right (with the more specific detector winning) so one pattern never mislabels another. That means structured data with a predictable shape is caught reliably, but free-form things without a fixed pattern, like a person's name or a street address, cannot be recognized this way.
Everything runs entirely in your browser. Your text is never uploaded to a server, so it is safe to use on logs, transcripts, and support tickets that contain sensitive data. Because no tool can be perfect, review the scrubbed output before you share it.
Frequently asked questions
- What types of personal data can it detect?
- Email addresses, phone numbers, US Social Security numbers, credit card numbers (Luhn-validated), IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, MAC addresses, URLs, and dates. You can toggle each category on or off before scrubbing.
- Is my text uploaded anywhere?
- No. All detection and redaction happen locally in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is sent to a server, which makes it safe for logs, transcripts, and other sensitive content.
- Can it redact names and physical addresses?
- No. Names and street addresses have no fixed pattern, so regular expressions cannot reliably identify them. This tool focuses on structured data with a predictable shape. Always review the output and remove any names manually.
- How can I control what the redacted text looks like?
- Choose a replacement style: a labeled token such as [EMAIL] or [PHONE], solid block characters, an asterisk mask that keeps the original length, or complete removal of the matched text.
- Why do some numbers get skipped?
- Credit card matches are only redacted if they pass the Luhn checksum, so random long numbers are left alone. Bare 9-digit runs are not treated as SSNs to avoid false positives; SSNs must use dash or space separators (123-45-6789).
- Can I save the result?
- Yes. Copy the scrubbed text to your clipboard, or download it as a .txt file. Both actions use the already-processed text and stay entirely on your device.