Another question occasionally raised is whether the President can issue pardons without informing the public. In a certain sense, the President appears to have the authority to issue a pardon that is not officially made public, i.e., a secret pardon. As historically understood, the only requirements for a valid pardon are that (1) the President grant it and (2) the recipient accept it. Under DOJ regulations, the Office of Pardon Attorney must mail warrants of pardon to their recipients to notify them of the grant of clemency, although it is unclear whether this rule would necessarily inform a Presidents practice in situations where the Office of Pardon Attorney has not taken part in consideration of the pardon request. In any event, these regulations are advisory and cannot be interpreted in a way that would impinge on the Presidents Article II authority. So while the President might issue a secret pardon, the recipient would ultimately have to produce the pardon in order to reap its benefits.
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/pardons.pdf