Does Redact.Dev leave tags to show my content was deleted?

1. What Redact’s product pages actually say — a plain reading

Redact’s service descriptions for Reddit and other platforms state you can either delete content or edit it; specifically the Reddit page explains an ability to “edit the content of your deleted posts to display the message ‘Removed with redact.dev’,” i.e., a placeholder that signals the original content was replaced ^[1]. The blog and services documentation also promote previewing matches before deletion and archiving copies locally on your device, showing the company intends users to control whether posts are removed or edited ^{[2] [1]}.

2. Two deletion workflows: delete vs. edit-to-placeholder

The marketing materials present deletion as a choice, not an automatic behavior. Redact advertises both bulk delete and bulk edit modes; the guide for Reddit explains you can “swap to deletion mode, and re-run the setup as an edit,” which implies a separate workflow for editing posts to a placeholder rather than permanently removing them ^[2]. The product features and service pages reiterate mass-delete functionality across services while also highlighting editing capabilities ^{[4] [1]}.

3. Where Redact says deletion runs and what that implies about traces

Redact repeatedly states deletion logic runs on your device and that content is not passed through Redact servers — a privacy claim that frames the app as “local” and argues the company does not retain your message data ^[3]. That technical design affects who controls the final state: if Redact’s client edits a post to a placeholder, that placeholder becomes live on the platform; if it issues a delete command, the platform's own deletion semantics apply ^[3].

4. Platform behavior remains relevant — Redact cannot unilaterally erase third‑party copies

Redact’s materials focus on issuing edits or deletes via the platform APIs or UI on your behalf ^{[2] [1]}. That means whether a visible “removed” tag remains depends partly on the platform’s behavior after an edit or delete command. Available sources do not detail how each supported platform (e.g., Reddit, Facebook, Discord) handles placeholders vs. hard deletes after Redact’s actions; Redact’s pages simply advertise the feature for platforms where it is supported ^{[1] [5]}. Not found in current reporting: an exhaustive platform-by-platform mapping of whether a placeholder persists after deletion or whether third‑party caches/indexers will continue to show original content.

5. Practical takeaway for users who don’t want a “this was removed” tag

If you want no visible marker that content once existed, the company copy indicates you must choose an outright delete workflow rather than the edit-to-placeholder option; Redact’s UI offers preview and mode selection so users can avoid the placeholder if they prefer ^{[2] [4]}. However, Redact’s own blog and service pages also advertise placeholder editing as a privacy feature — useful if you want to ensure archived scrapers see only a neutral message instead of original text ^[1].

6. Conflicting incentives and the company’s framing

Redact frames the placeholder feature as a privacy-protecting measure (“ensures…they’ll only find this trusty placeholder message”), which aligns with selling convenience and control to users worried about archived content ^[1]. That framing serves a product agenda: offering both deletion and visible-edit modes expands the app’s appeal. Readers should note the copy is promotional: the blog and service pages emphasize benefits and local execution without presenting limits about platform caching or legal records ^{[1] [3]}.

7. Limits in the available reporting and what to check before you run it

Redact’s materials do not provide independent verification of how often placeholders persist, how platforms index those placeholders versus original content, or how third-party archives behave after Redact edits or deletes ^{[1] [3]}. Before running bulk actions, use Redact’s preview and local archive features to confirm what will be changed, and test on a small sample so you can observe whether the platform shows “Removed with redact.dev” or actually removes posts ^{[2] [4]}.

Summary: Redact.dev does offer an edit-to-placeholder feature that can leave an explicit “Removed with redact.dev” tag on content ^[1]. The company positions that as a privacy tool while also providing conventional delete workflows and on-device execution — but the exact post-deletion/placeholder behavior across platforms and third‑party caches is not documented in the available sources ^{[2] [3] [1]}.