Security and privacy

Your files are processed on your PC

Opening, editing, converting, signing and text recognition all run on your own computer. There is no cloud service in the app and no server that receives your documents.

PDF Coast works with the network switched off.

No account, no tracking

You never create an account or sign in. The app does not collect analytics about how you use it.

If you choose to send us a diagnostic report to get help, it contains no document content, and it is sent only when you choose.

When PDF Coast uses the internet

• Microsoft Store installs and updates the app, and handles Pro purchases.
• Web page to PDF fetches the address you type, using Microsoft Edge on your PC.
• A link inside a PDF opens in your browser only after you confirm.

Nothing else in the app goes online.

Scripts inside PDFs are sealed off

PDF Coast never runs JavaScript embedded in an ordinary PDF, a common way of attacking PDF readers.

Dynamic (XFA) forms, used by many government and bank forms, run their own form logic inside a sealed sandbox. It can fill in and show parts of the form, but it cannot read your files or reach the internet. If a form tries to send itself somewhere, open a web address or run a menu command, PDF Coast refuses and tells you. A form that runs too long is stopped.

Tools to protect what you share

• Redaction removes content from the file, not just from view.
• AES-256 password protection, the strongest the PDF format defines.
• Remove hidden data, such as metadata, before you share.
• Sign with a digital certificate, and verify signatures on files you receive.
• Save a flattened copy so form answers cannot be changed.

What stays on your PC

For convenience, PDF Coast keeps your settings, saved signatures, text snippets and crash-recovery data in your Windows AppData folder. Recovery data can include an unsaved copy of a document you were editing.

None of it is uploaded, and you can clear it from inside the app at any time.

Distributed through Microsoft Store

Every version is certified by Microsoft before release, and installed and updated by Microsoft Store. Pro purchases are processed by Microsoft, so we never see your payment details.

Report a security issue

If you find a security problem in PDF Coast, email support@pdfcoast.com with the details and the steps to reproduce it. Please do not include documents that contain personal information.