Anonymize a question before you ask Perplexity
Perplexity answers by searching the web. If your question names a client, that name can become part of the searches it runs. Paste your question below: people and companies become codes such as NAME-001, and the facts the answer depends on stay readable. Ask Perplexity the coded question, then restore its answer here.
Restoring uses the key of this tab: code your text here first, keep this tab open, then come back with the answer.
Adjust
See the key (it stays in this tab)
The key links each code to the real value. It exists only in this tab's memory: close or reload the tab and it is gone.
connect-src 'none' in its security policy) and loads no analytics. Turn Wi-Fi off once the page has loaded: the tool works just the same. The engine is the one inside the Hidden Tokens app.How it works
1 · Code
Paste a text or drop a file. Names, companies, addresses, emails, phone numbers, bank details, ID and case numbers become codes such as NAME-001 or COMPANY-001. Unknown proper nouns are coded too: when in doubt, the engine codes.
2 · Send the codes
Copy the coded text, or download the coded file, and give it to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot. The AI reasons on the codes: it still knows who did what, not who they are.
3 · Restore
Paste the AI's answer in the Restore tab, in the same browser tab. The codes become the real names again, on your screen only.
Example: an employment law question about a client
I am advising Mr Callum Breckenridge, who was dismissed by Westerleigh Builders Ltd after 14 months while on sick leave. What are his chances at an employment tribunal in England, and which deadlines apply?I am advising Mr NAME-001 NAME-002, who was dismissed by COMPANY-001 after 14 months while on sick leave. What are his chances at an employment tribunal in England, and which deadlines apply?The client and his former employer are coded. Everything the research needs stays readable: dismissal after 14 months, sick leave, employment tribunal, England. Perplexity can look up the rules without looking up the people.
Why a search engine with an AI needs extra care
A chat assistant answers from what it was trained on and what you give it. An answer engine such as Perplexity also turns your question into web searches and reads the results. A client's name in the question is then not only in the conversation: it can be part of the queries sent out to find sources.
- Ask about the situation, not the person. The law on dismissal during sick leave does not depend on your client's name. Coding keeps the question general where it should be.
- Do not code what the search needs. Jurisdictions, statutes, courts and dates stay readable. If the engine codes a term the search needs, add it under Adjust → Keep readable.
- Restore before you write. Paste Perplexity's answer in the Restore tab to reuse it in your note to the client.
Sometimes the name is the point, for example when you research a public company. Then you are researching public information: leave that name readable, and keep coding the private people around it.
The free tool or the Hidden Tokens app?
This free tool
- One text or one file at a time
- Up to 3,000 words or 1,000 spreadsheet rows
- The key lives in this tab and disappears when you close it
- Word, Excel, CSV and text
The Hidden Tokens app
- Whole folders: the same person keeps the same code in every document
- One key per case file, kept on your computer
- PDF and scanned documents, read on your computer
- Inside Claude Desktop, and in ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot with the extension
- Industry packs, firm rules and a signed proof of what the AI saw
A word on the word “anonymize”
Strictly speaking, this tool pseudonymizes: each value is replaced by a code that can be reversed with the key. Under the GDPR, pseudonymised data is still personal data for whoever holds the key, which here is you, in this tab. What the AI receives no longer names anyone directly. Clues can remain, such as a job, a town and an age together: the tool warns you when it sees them. Read the result before sending it.
Questions
Does Perplexity really search with my words?
It builds web searches from your question to find sources. To be safe, assume any part of your question can be used that way, and code what identifies your client.
Will the answer still be useful?
Yes for legal, technical or general questions: the facts that matter stay readable. It will not be useful if you need information about that specific person, which is a different kind of search.
Can I research a company by name?
Yes. Leave a public company readable under Adjust → Keep readable. Coding is for private people and confidential matters.
Is this a Perplexity tool?
No. Hidden Tokens is independent and not affiliated with Perplexity.
Other ways to use the free tool
By file type
By AI tool
By task
For whole folders, use the app
Hidden Tokens codes whole case files on your computer with one key, works inside Claude Desktop and in your browser, reads PDFs and scans, and puts the real names back into Word and Excel files.