PDF Metadata Remover
- Free
- No upload
- No watermark
Quick answer
To remove metadata from a PDF, rewrite it without its document properties — Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator and Producer, creation and modification dates — and without XMP packets, app-private data, comment author names and the document ID. This tool does exactly that in your browser. Pages, text, links, bookmarks and forms stay as they were, older saved revisions are dropped, and the PDF is never uploaded.
Step by step
How to pdf metadata remover
- 01
Drop the PDF
Drop one PDF or several. Each is opened in your browser and its properties are listed: author, title, creator app, dates, XMP, document ID and comment authors. Password-protected PDFs are refused; unlock them first.
- 02
Remove the metadata
Everything mode is preselected for PDFs. Start the removal and the file is rewritten without its metadata, every page left exactly as it was.
- 03
Check and download
The cleaned PDF is inspected again, so you can see the properties are empty. Download it, or the whole batch as a ZIP.
In depth
What metadata is hiding in a PDF?
More than the Properties dialog shows. The Info dictionary holds Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator (the app that made the document), Producer (the software that wrote the PDF), dates and any custom keys, and an XMP packet usually repeats much of it. The trailer carries a document ID. Design apps keep private data in PieceInfo — Illustrator can store a full editable copy of the artwork there, hidden layers included. Comments keep their authors’ names, and incremental saves can leave older revisions of all of it in the file.
| Field | Example | Why it leaks |
|---|---|---|
| Author | "jsmith", or whoever made the template | Copied from the account that created the original, so a CV or contract template can carry a stranger’s name for years |
| Title | "Microsoft Word - draft_v7_confidential.docx" | Printing to PDF often uses the source file name — and many viewers show it in the tab |
| Creator / Producer | "Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365", "macOS Version 14.5 (Build 23F79) Quartz PDFContext" | Names your software and, from a Mac, the exact OS build |
| Dates | D:20250314093012+01'00' | When it was really written, to the second, plus your time zone |
| Custom keys and XMP | A classification label, a linked file’s folder path | Company systems and design apps add their own fields, sometimes with usernames |
| Document ID | Two hex strings in the trailer | The first stays the same across versions, linking copies to one original |
| Comment authors | "Dana (Legal)" on a sticky note | Reviewer names outlive the review |
| Old revisions | A previous Author kept by an incremental save | Editors append changes rather than rewrite, so earlier values remain |
Does cleaning change how the PDF looks?
No. Nothing is re-rendered, flattened or turned into images: pages, text, fonts, images, links, bookmarks, form fields and attachments are carried across as they are, so text stays searchable and forms stay fillable. Because the file is written out fresh, old incremental-save revisions disappear and the document ID is replaced with a random one. Illustrator PDFs, heavy with private data, can come out much smaller.
What metadata removal does not cover
- Content, visible or hidden. Removing metadata is not redaction: text under a black box, white-on-white text and the comments themselves all stay. Redact them in your PDF editor first.
- Data inside embedded photos. Their XMP is removed, but images are not re-encoded, so camera data inside a placed photo’s own bytes can survive. Clean photos with the EXIF remover before you build the PDF.
- Encrypted and signed PDFs. Password-protected files are refused, so remove the password first. Clean a document before it is digitally signed, not after.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. Contracts, CVs and medical letters should not pass through someone else’s server, so the PDF is read, rewritten and checked entirely in your browser. Open DevTools → Network while you clean one: no request carries the file.
Related tools
Want to look first? The metadata viewer lists every property and comment author. PDFs can carry Content Credentials too, and the C2PA remover explains what those record. For photos going into a document, the image compressor shrinks them before you place them.
Your files never leave your device
Processed locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded. You can verify it yourself: open your browser’s developer tools, watch the Network tab, and use the tool — no upload request is ever made.
- No file is ever uploaded to a server
- Works offline after the first visit
- No account, no watermark, no limits
A little more clarity
Frequently asked questions
01How do I remove the author name from a PDF?
Drop the PDF here and start the removal; the Author field is cleared with the rest of the properties. Both copies go — the author is often stored twice, in the Info dictionary and in the XMP packet, and some editors clear only one. Names on review comments are removed as well.
02Will removing metadata change the layout or content?
No. Nothing is re-rendered or recompressed: pages, text, fonts, images, links, bookmarks, form fields and attachments are copied into the new file as they were, so it looks, prints and searches the same. Only the metadata, app-private data, old revisions and the document ID change.
03Can I clean a password-protected PDF?
No. Encrypted PDFs are detected and refused with a clear message, because they cannot be rewritten without the password. Open the file in the app that set the password, remove the protection, then drop the unlocked copy here. Add a password again afterwards if you need one.
04Why does my PDF show an old file name in the browser tab?
Browsers and many PDF readers show the document’s Title property instead of its file name. If the PDF was made by printing from Word, that title is often the original file name — something like "Microsoft Word - draft_v7_confidential.docx". Renaming the file does not change it; removing the metadata does.
05Should I clean a PDF before or after signing it?
Before. A digital signature covers the exact bytes of the file, and this tool rewrites the whole file, so cleaning a signed PDF would invalidate the signature. Clean the final draft, then sign it or send it for signature. Empty signature fields are ordinary form fields and are kept.
06Will the PDF get smaller?
Usually only a little — metadata is a few kilobytes in most documents. The exceptions are Illustrator PDFs saved with editing capabilities and files with many incremental saves, which can shrink substantially. Going further means recompressing the images, which this tool deliberately does not do.
Guides
Further reading
- Guide5 min readHow to remove metadata from a PDF before you send itClearing the Author box in your PDF reader rarely clears the author. Here is every place a PDF keeps information about itself, why the usual fixes miss some of it, and how to remove all of it without changing a page.Read the guide
- Guide6 min readHow to see the hidden metadata in any fileEvery file you share carries a description of itself that you never see on screen. Here is how to read it, from the viewers already on your computer to a full inspection, and how to tell which findings actually matter.Read the guide
- Guide6 min readWhat is C2PA? Content Credentials explained, read and removedContent Credentials are turning up in photos, AI images, videos and PDFs. Here is what the C2PA standard is, how to read each part of a manifest, what the signature does and does not prove, and how to remove one when you need to.Read the guide
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