Privacy

When you open a PDF, it is read, edited and exported inside your browser. It is not uploaded. The same goes for photos you take with the scan button: they are turned into a PDF on your device.

If you choose files from Dropbox, Dropbox's own window opens and you sign in to Dropbox there. The files you pick are downloaded from Dropbox straight into your browser. We never see your Dropbox login and never receive those files. So that the button responds on the first tap, the page loads a small script from Dropbox once the button is on screen; Dropbox can see that request, as with any website it serves.

So a refresh doesn't lose your work, the document and your edits are saved in this browser's storage on this device, and your recent files are listed on the home page. You can remove any of them from that list, or clear your browser's site data, at any time. On a shared computer, do this when you're done.

If you ask the editor to remember a signature, initials or a logo for next time, that picture is kept in this browser's storage as well. It is not uploaded, and you can remove it in the Signature window. Once placed on a page it is part of that document, like any other edit.

If you create an account and choose "Save to cloud" in the editor, that PDF and your edits to it are sent over an encrypted connection and stored in your account so you can open them on another device. This only happens when you press that button. Nothing is uploaded automatically.

Cloud documents are private to your account. Saving to the cloud needs a paid plan. There are limits on how much an account can hold, and a single document can be up to 25 MB.

You can delete any cloud document from your documents page, whether or not you have a plan. Deleting your account, from the same page, permanently deletes every document saved to it. A running subscription has to be canceled first.

To create an account we store your email address and a protected (hashed) form of your password. We use your email to log you in and to send account emails such as confirmation and password-reset links. If you buy a plan, we also store which plan you have and when it ends.

Your login is remembered in this browser until you log out. Logging out does not remove the recent files saved on the device.

Payments are handled by Stripe. Your card details are typed into Stripe's page and go straight to Stripe; we never see or store your card number. We keep which plan you bought, when it ends, and the reference Stripe uses for your account, so the site knows you have access.

Accounts and cloud documents are hosted for us by a cloud provider. The pages load their fonts from Google Fonts, so your browser contacts Google to download them.

Text recognition (OCR) reads your pages on your device. The first time you use it, your browser downloads the recognition engine and language files from a public code-hosting network (jsDelivr). Your pages are not sent to it.

A password you type to open or protect a PDF is used on your device and is not sent anywhere or stored.

Whiteout and moved text hide content but do not remove it from the file. To remove something before sharing a PDF, use the Redact tool, which rebuilds that page as a picture when you download.

Questions about a document, a plan, a refund or a deletion are all handled by the same address: support@pdfowl.net. Write from the email you signed up with when you can, and we can find your account faster.