Is it safe to put a signed contract or an ID scan into FreeAIPDF?

The file is read and processed inside your browser tab and never sent to a server, so there is no copy for the site to store or lose. The remaining risk is the device itself: the original file, the download you save, and anyone else who uses that computer.

Can I use the tools with the internet switched off?

Mostly. Once a tool page has loaded, the code is already in your browser. Two things still come from the site on demand: OCR PDF downloads its English recognition data the first time you run it, and the page-reading engine fetches character maps or font data for documents using characters it does not already carry. Run the tool once while connected first.

Does the site keep a copy after I download the result?

No. Nothing was uploaded, so there is nothing to keep. The site stores two settings in your browser, your theme and Scan to PDF's automatic-capture choice. The website also loads Google's AdSense ad code, which uses its own cookies to choose and measure ads; it is described on the privacy page and is not sent your documents.

Is Protect PDF enough to email a medical record safely?

It encrypts the file with AES-256, so anyone without the open password cannot read the pages. That password is the whole defense: make it long, send it through a different channel than the file, and keep a note of it, because nothing is uploaded and a forgotten password cannot be recovered. The permission checkboxes are a request to the reader software rather than a hard lock. Sign PDF is unrelated; it only places an image of a signature.

What about Word to PDF and the other converters?

Office conversion, repair and translation cannot run in a browser and are not on the live site. If they are added, their pages will say plainly, before you run them, that the file is sent to a server the site runs and deleted once the result comes back, so you can decide per file.

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Are online PDF tools safe? What happens to your file

Updated 2026-10-10

It depends on which kind of tool you have opened. Some online PDF tools send your file to a server, process it there, and send a result back, so whether that copy is deleted comes down to trusting their policy. Others do the work with JavaScript inside your browser tab and never transmit the file at all. FreeAIPDF is the second kind. This guide shows the difference, how to check it yourself, and what a browser-based tool cannot protect you from.

Two very different things are called an online PDF tool

The first is a web page that collects your file, uploads it, runs the work on the company's machines, and hands back a link. Your contract or passport scan now sits on hardware you do not control, for as long as their retention policy says, with their staff and their hosting provider between you and it.

The second is a web page that downloads a program into your browser and runs it there. The file is read into the tab's memory, changed, and offered back as a download. Nothing leaves your device, so there is no server copy to leak or forget to delete. Both look the same from outside, a drop zone and a button, so you have to check.

How to check a tool yourself

You do not have to take a site's word for it. Open the tool page, then open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Option-Command-I on a Mac) and choose the Network tab. Add a file and run the tool. An upload-based tool shows a large request going out, roughly the size of your file. A browser-based one shows nothing new, or only small requests for the site's own code.

A simpler test is to load the page, switch on airplane mode, then add the file and run the tool. If it still produces a download, the file never needed to go anywhere. Most FreeAIPDF tools pass that test, with two honest exceptions. OCR PDF downloads its English recognition data from the site the first time you run it, and pdf.js, the engine that reads pages, fetches character maps or font data for documents using characters it does not already carry. Both requests go to freeaipdf.com and carry nothing of yours, so run a tool once online before treating an offline run as proof.

Read the privacy page too. Look for a plain statement of where processing happens and how long files are kept. Vague wording about taking security seriously, or a sign-up wall before you can download, tells you more than any padlock icon.

What FreeAIPDF does with your file

The file you pick is read by the page, processed with JavaScript on your machine, and handed back through a Download button. There is no upload step and no account. Every tool page shows the line "Processed in your browser. This file is never uploaded anywhere," and the drop zone repeats "Nothing is uploaded."

The site also asks the browser to enforce limits. Its Content Security Policy lets the page load code from, and connect to, only this site and Google's advertising servers, so a bug in the page could not quietly post your document to an address outside that list, and the tools never put a file into a network request in the first place. The site stores two small settings in your browser: your light or dark theme, and whether Scan to PDF's automatic capture is on. The website shows Google AdSense ads; Google's ad code runs on the page and uses cookies to choose and measure ads, as the privacy page explains. It is not sent your documents, but because it runs on the same page it could in principle see what the page shows, such as a file name or a text preview, as on any site with ads. If that matters for a document, a content blocker stops the ads without affecting any tool.

Some jobs genuinely cannot run in a browser. Office conversion, repair and translation are in that group, and none of them are on the live site. If they ship, their pages will say before you run them that the file goes to a server the site runs and is deleted the moment the result comes back. OCR is not in that group: it runs Tesseract compiled to WebAssembly in your own tab, English only.

What "never uploaded" does not cover

It answers one question, not all of them. The file is only as safe as the device you use. On a shared computer the result lands in the Downloads folder and the original stays where you opened it from, so tidy up both. The tab holds the document in memory until you close it or press Start over. Scan to PDF needs camera permission, and the frames it captures stay in the page like any other file.

Some tools invite misunderstandings. Sign PDF places a picture of a signature on the page; it is not a cryptographic signature and proves nothing about who signed. Protect PDF encrypts with AES-256, real protection for a file you have to email, but the open password is the whole defense: the permission checkboxes are a request to the reader software, not a hard lock, and a forgotten password cannot be recovered. Unlock PDF only removes a password you already know. Files are capped at 100 MB and 20 at a time, and a big scan can be slow or run out of memory on a phone.

Questions

Is it safe to put a signed contract or an ID scan into FreeAIPDF?: The file is read and processed inside your browser tab and never sent to a server, so there is no copy for the site to store or lose. The remaining risk is the device itself: the original file, the download you save, and anyone else who uses that computer.
Can I use the tools with the internet switched off?: Mostly. Once a tool page has loaded, the code is already in your browser. Two things still come from the site on demand: OCR PDF downloads its English recognition data the first time you run it, and the page-reading engine fetches character maps or font data for documents using characters it does not already carry. Run the tool once while connected first.
Does the site keep a copy after I download the result?: No. Nothing was uploaded, so there is nothing to keep. The site stores two settings in your browser, your theme and Scan to PDF's automatic-capture choice. The website also loads Google's AdSense ad code, which uses its own cookies to choose and measure ads; it is described on the privacy page and is not sent your documents.
Is Protect PDF enough to email a medical record safely?: It encrypts the file with AES-256, so anyone without the open password cannot read the pages. That password is the whole defense: make it long, send it through a different channel than the file, and keep a note of it, because nothing is uploaded and a forgotten password cannot be recovered. The permission checkboxes are a request to the reader software rather than a hard lock. Sign PDF is unrelated; it only places an image of a signature.
What about Word to PDF and the other converters?: Office conversion, repair and translation cannot run in a browser and are not on the live site. If they are added, their pages will say plainly, before you run them, that the file is sent to a server the site runs and deleted once the result comes back, so you can decide per file.