u/DazzlingEmphasis7552

When a landlord asks for "two months of bank statements," they're trying to verify three things:

1. The name on the account matches the applicant.
2. You have a steady inflow (paycheck, gig income, etc.).
3. You have enough cash on hand for first month + security.

You do NOT have to show them: every individual transaction, where you spent your money, who you Venmo'd, your full account number, or your SSN.

What you CAN redact:

• Full account number (leave last 4)
• Individual transactions (leave the running balance and direct-deposit line)
• Routing number
• Any reference to other accounts (CC numbers, linked accounts)
• Your SSN if it's printed anywhere on the statement

Most landlords are fine with this. The few who insist on unredacted statements are the same few who would also lose them in a Gmail thread. Politely walk away.

Two tools that actually work for redacting properly (i.e., the black box can't be moved or removed by the recipient):

1. Preview on Mac -> annotate -> black rectangles -> "Export As" (new file, not "Save"). The "Export As" step is what bakes in the redaction; "Save" can be undone.
2. A browser-based one I built because I got tired of doing it manually: https://redactid.io - runs locally, never uploads, first 3 are free. Disclosure: I made it. Posting here because the tenant version of this question gets asked weekly.

Either works. The point is: a black highlighter in Word does not redact anything. The text underneath is still copy-pasteable.