Skip to main content

How to Bulk Redact documents

Bulk redact documents using Ai pattern redaction. Protect sensitive information by redacting content in one or multiple PDF documents directly in your Deal Room.

Written by Sam Melrose
Updated today

We know how painful redacting multiple documents in a deal can be. Which is why we use best-in-class OCR and AI powered by Microsoft Azure that begins scanning your documents as soon as they are in your document index, not just when you’re ready to redact. Automated PII and AI pattern recognition will show you a number of automatically detected patterns to choose from when redacting. You can select as many or as few as you'd like to redact at once.

This feature is available to Administrators only.

How to bulk redact documents:

Step 1: Log in to the Ansarada Data Room

Log in at dash.ansarada.com.

Step 2: Locate Manage Documents

Go to Manage documents on the Left-hand tool bar.

Step 3: Select documents to Redact

  • Select multiple documents or folders using the checkboxes on the left (PDFs only).

  • Click Redact in the top of your page.

Note: Any documents that cannot be redacted will be automatically excluded.

Step 4: Review detected AI patterns & amend key words.

Once the bulk redaction screen opens, Ansarada displays any AI‑detected patterns we have found across your selected documents.

You can:

  • Select one or more detected patterns to redact (for example PII: organisations, names, emails, etc)

  • Search for custom keywords or phrases to redact.

  • Review your selections in the right‑hand summary panel

These patterns are identified using AI and should always be reviewed for accuracy.

Step 5: Saving redaction

Choose whether you'd like to :

  1. Replace original document: This will replace the current version of the document with the new redacted version. Don't worry, you can edit or remove redaction marks at any stage of your deal.

  2. Save as New document: The new redacted documents will be saved as disabled by default.

Note: If you'd like to continue redacting or editing these files, you must retain the original inside the room.

Step 6: Choose how to apply redactions

You can apply redactions in one of two ways:

  • Redact all

    • Automatically applies the selected patterns and keywords to all documents

  • Preview and redact

    • Review each document individually before confirming redactions

    • Allows you to add, remove, or modify redaction marks

Step 7: Preview, modify, and confirm (optional)

If you choose Preview and redact:

  • The redaction in-browser tab opens, similar to our single‑document redaction feature.

  • Selected patterns appear highlighted in citrus.

  • Any found patterns that were not selected are underlined with a green citrus-colored line in the document.

  • You can add text or area redactions manually.

  • Check them over and confirm your redactions by pressing Redact (n) items at the bottom of the left hand menu.

Use the helper toolbar to:

  • Skip documents

  • Save and move to the next document

  • Redact all remaining documents at any time

Example 1: No changes made yet to the document - it displays the count of redaction marks (selected items) that will be redacted when confirmed.

Example 2: Redactions confirmed or edits made - it displays the number of redacted items you just completed.

Step 8: Redact files

Make sure to either chose Save & Next to continue reviewing, or Redact all documents to complete the entire redaction.

Step 7: Receive confirmation and report

Once processing is complete:

  • You’ll receive a confirmation email

  • Download the redaction report (Excel file) showing document status and results

Tip: If you don’t receive the email, check spam or ask your IT team to whitelist [email protected]

FAQs

What AI patterns can be detected?

Ansarada supports a wide range of PII patterns, including:

  • Names, organisations, and job titles

  • Email addresses and phone numbers

  • Street addresses and IP addresses

  • Dates, ages, and durations

  • Credit cards, IBANs, SWIFT codes

  • Australian identifiers such as TFNs, ABNs, passport and driver’s licence numbers

What languages are supported for AI pattern detection?

AI pattern detection currently supports:

  • English

  • French

  • German

  • Italian

  • Spanish

  • Dutch

  • Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal)

  • Japanese

  • Korean

How accurate is AI pattern detection?

Each detected pattern includes a confidence score. Ansarada only surfaces high‑confidence results, but AI detection is unsupervised and may miss or misidentify information. Manual review is strongly recommended.

How many documents can I bulk redact at once?

Customers regularly redact thousands of documents in a single operation. Processing time depends on document size and quantity.

Can I start bulk redaction immediately after upload?

You can initiate bulk redaction immediately after successfully uploading documents to the Room.

However, the OCR and AI Pattern processes need time to scan the documents, and the processing time depending on document size and quantity.

If a document is still processing or has failed to process, you will receive the notification below. Simply wait for 5-10 minutes to allow the document to undergo the recognition process, or try to upload the document again.
​

Why is the redacted file larger?

Redacted PDFs are typically 2–4x larger than the original file. Room size reporting is based on the original document size, not the redacted version.

Why can’t I redact a PDF with a digital signature?

PDFs with secured digital signatures may fail redaction. Re‑saving the file as a new PDF (for example, via “Print to PDF”) usually resolves this.

Am I able to bulk-unredact PDFs that were bulk redacted?

No. iIf you need to un redact redacted PDFs this needs to be done invividually

Did this answer your question?