File content sanitization mitigates malware threats by scanning files, identifying active content, and removing active code. Finally, the file is recreated without the potentially dangerous code. One way to think of file sanitization is to consider the way you redact files. For example, when you send someone a PDF that contains sensitive information, you often use the redact tools to black out information such as your name, address, birth date, or social security number.  File sanitization tools do something similar but at the file metadata level. They don’t just hide the potentially risky code; they eliminate it entirely.