One combined PDF
Build one email review pack or split large output into smaller PDFs when that is easier to inspect and share.
Email evidence to PDF
Convert PST and Purview email exports to one PDF for SAR review
RedactNinja turns PST, OST, MSG, MBOX and Microsoft Purview ZIP evidence into one readable, redacted email PDF in your browser, with attachments and pictures included. It avoids the Outlook and Microsoft Print to PDF workflow that can request a separate filename for every message or place the reviewer name above the original sender.
Attachments and pictures in the PDF
Pictures can hold personal data that text rules cannot see, such as a photo of a pupil, a signature or a screenshot of a record. RedactNinja lists every picture it finds, whether it is attached to an email or shown inside the message, in a picture review before export.
- Nothing from a picture reaches the PDF until a reviewer chooses to include it.
- Draw boxes over faces, names or numbers, and they are burned into the picture in the PDF.
- Find text to cover reads the words in a picture on your device and suggests boxes over the names, emails and phone numbers your rules match.
- The same picture sent many times is reviewed once.
Review each email before you export
Automatic rules suggest what to redact, but a reviewer decides. The email review lists every suggestion in context, so you can keep a word visible where it should be disclosed, or add a phrase the rules missed, either in one email or in every email. Words suggested many times can be kept or redacted everywhere in one step.
Long threads repeat the same text many times. You can leave out earlier emails quoted in a reply when those emails are already in the PDF, which keeps the pack shorter without losing anything. Replies quoting emails that are not in the pack are left whole.
Your review choices are saved in the encrypted case file, so they come back when the same evidence is scanned again.
Large PSTs, older Outlook files and other languages
A single scan reads up to 5,000 emails. For bigger mailboxes, Process PST in batches reads the folder list first and then only the emails in each batch, so a large PST is never loaded into memory in one go. The scan and the PDF are built in the background, so the page stays responsive.
RedactNinja reads Unicode PSTs from Outlook 2003 onwards, older Outlook 97 to 2002 (ANSI) PSTs, and offline Outlook data files (.ost) from Outlook 2013 or later. Email text in Arabic, Urdu, Hebrew, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Chinese, Japanese and Korean is written into the PDF with matching fonts, so home language correspondence stays readable.
A practical replacement for printing emails from Outlook
Microsoft 365 subject access request evidence is often exported through Purview and then imported into Outlook before printing. That adds several manual steps and can produce confusing output. RedactNinja reads supported evidence directly from the selected local file and creates the PDF itself. It does not use the signed-in Outlook profile as the sender label.
Chronological order
Sort oldest first, newest first or retain source order. Messages without a valid date are kept after dated messages.
Duplicate control
Identify duplicates during the scan and choose whether repeated messages should be excluded from the new PDF.
Relevance filtering
Limit the print pack to messages containing selected names, phrases or case terms while keeping the original evidence file unchanged.
Redaction rules
Apply UK PII rules, names, keywords, CSV name aliases and custom regular expressions, with do not redact terms for information that must remain visible.
Local processing
Selected evidence is read by the browser. RedactNinja does not send source files to a document processing server.
Supported evidence
| Evidence type | Current handling |
|---|---|
| MSG | Reads supported message fields and attachments locally. |
| MBOX | Splits the archive into messages for local review and PDF output. |
| Microsoft Purview ZIP | Reads supported nested email evidence and recognises common report files. |
| PST and OST | Reads emails, attachments and pictures from Unicode and older ANSI PSTs and Outlook 2013 or later offline files. Large PSTs can be processed in batches by folder. |
| Native evidence | Extracts supported text from PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, RTF, HTML, CSV and TXT evidence where available. |
How to create an email SAR print pack
- Open RedactNinja and choose email evidence.
- Select a supported PST, MSG, MBOX or Purview ZIP file.
- Choose duplicate handling, relevance terms, sort order and contents options.
- Add UK PII rules, names, CSV aliases, regular expressions and do not redact terms.
- Scan the evidence, then work through the email review and the picture review.
- Download one combined PDF or choose a split output for larger packs.
- Open the downloaded files and complete a human review before disclosure.
Frequently asked questions
Are email attachments included in the PDF?
Yes. Text from supported attachments is added after each email and redacted with the same rules. Pictures, attached or shown in the email, are added once a reviewer includes them.
Can RedactNinja handle a large PST?
Yes. A single scan reads up to 5,000 emails. Process PST in batches reads the folder list first and then only the emails in each batch.
Does it work with old Outlook PST files?
Yes. Unicode PSTs, Outlook 97 to 2002 (ANSI) PSTs and Outlook 2013 or later offline files (.ost) can be read. Files protected by Windows Information Protection cannot.
Are the emails uploaded anywhere?
No. The PST and the PDF are processed in the browser tab. Fonts for other alphabets are downloaded from the RedactNinja site only when needed; no email content is sent.
Start locally
Create a structured email PDF without installing Outlook add-ins, desktop PDF software or a server converter.