What is redaction?
Redaction is removing or masking sensitive details before text goes to a tool, a person who should not see them, or a log. It is the action. PII is the kind of detail you are often removing.
In plain English
Black out the account number, leave the question. A model can categorize a bank memo without the full account. If your workflow pastes first and hopes, you did not redact. Manual redaction is fine at low volume. A sloppy find-and-replace that misses one column is not. Redaction means the sensitive bit is gone, not blurred in a way someone can undo. Decide the list: card numbers, tax ids, health details, passwords. Run it before the text reaches a model if the job does not need those bits. Check the output. A redaction that leaves the last four digits may be fine for a receipt and wrong for a medical note. This is a shop rule, not a legal opinion.
How an owner would use it
Decide the fields that must be masked. Do it before the paste, not after you notice. Keep the original in the system that is allowed to hold it.
Common mistakes
Replacing a name with 'Client A' and leaving a rare address is a weak redact. So is redacting the prompt and leaving the same data in an attachment. Do not ask the model to redact and then still send it the raw file in the same turn. Check the output, because models repeat numbers they were shown.
A worked example
A seasonal tax office
The question goes in, the account number stays out
This is an illustration, not a customer result. A preparer wants wording for a client email about a missing form. They delete the Social Security number and the bank digits from the note, then ask for the email. The return itself stays in the tax software.
Related terms
Prompts and guides
Questions owners ask
What is redaction?
Redaction removes sensitive details from text or a file before it is shared with a tool or a person who should not see them.
How do I redact before using an AI draft?
Strip account numbers, government IDs, and full customer exports first. Paste the smallest note that still lets the draft be written.
Can the model redact for me?
Only if it never receives the raw secret. Asking it to forget something you already pasted is not redaction. Mask first, in a system that is allowed to see the original.
Product guides are on AI apps for business.