Can the masked value be recovered?

No — it is redaction for display. The masked value cannot be recovered, which is the point: the output is safe to share precisely because the middle is gone.

How much should I keep visible?

Enough for recognition, not enough for reconstruction. A common convention is first 4 and last 4 for long tokens; shorter secrets deserve fewer visible characters or none.

Why not just delete the secret from the screenshot?

Because you usually need to show that a value was there — length, shape, distinctness between two values. Masking preserves that evidence while removing the secret itself.

String obfuscator — Guide

Obfuscate a string (like a secret, an IBAN, or a token) to make it shareable and identifiable without revealing its content.

What it is and when to use it

Mask a string so it stays recognisable and comparable without revealing its content — show the first and last few characters and blank out the middle. Built for sharing examples safely: paste a token, an IBAN or a client ID into a bug report or screenshot without leaking the real value.

Masks part of a string by rule — for showing order numbers or tokens while protecting the content.

How to use it

Enter the original string
Set how many leading and trailing characters to keep
Copy the masked result

A worked example

Fill in a sample string

my-secret-token-123456

Copy this into the tool, or open String obfuscator

Things that trip people up

This is display-level masking, not encryption. Do not rely on it to protect genuinely sensitive data

Questions people ask

Can the masked value be recovered?: No — it is redaction for display. The masked value cannot be recovered, which is the point: the output is safe to share precisely because the middle is gone.
How much should I keep visible?: Enough for recognition, not enough for reconstruction. A common convention is first 4 and last 4 for long tokens; shorter secrets deserve fewer visible characters or none.
Why not just delete the secret from the screenshot?: Because you usually need to show that a value was there — length, shape, distinctness between two values. Masking preserves that evidence while removing the secret itself.

Next steps

Open the String obfuscator tool

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