Remove Metadata From a PDF
PDFs record who made them, with what software and when — and often keep earlier drafts inside the same file. See what yours contains, then remove it.
- Free
- No account, no limit on files
- 0
- Files uploaded — processing is local
- Rewritten, not re-rendered
How it works
- 1
Load the PDF
The document is read in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
- 2
Review the entries
Info-dictionary fields and XMP entries are listed, with a revision count.
- 3
Remove and verify
The document is rewritten and the result re-read to confirm it is clean.
How the common ways of removing PDF metadata compare
| Method | Clears properties | Removes XMP | Drops old revisions | Keeps file private |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This tool (full rewrite) | ||||
| Editing properties in a PDF reader | ||||
| exiftool -all= | ||||
| qpdf --linearize | ||||
| Print to PDF | ||||
| A server-side online cleaner |
Dropping old revisions is the row that matters most: a tool that appends an incremental update leaves the previous author, title and dates inside the file. Print-to-PDF achieves it but rasterises or re-flows the document, losing selectable text in many cases.
The three places a PDF hides metadata
PDF metadata is more scattered than an image's, and a tool that only handles the obvious location leaves the rest behind.
- The document information dictionary — the /Info entry in the trailer, holding Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, CreationDate and ModDate. This is what a reader's Properties dialog shows.
- An XMP packet — an XML metadata stream attached to the document catalogue, written by Adobe tools. It duplicates much of the info dictionary and adds document and instance identifiers that persist across exports.
- Superseded revisions — the part most tools miss. See below.
Why incremental updates matter more than the rest
PDF supports incremental updates: instead of rewriting the file, an editor appends the changed objects plus a new cross-reference table to the end. The old bytes stay exactly where they were. This is how a PDF keeps a full edit history without anyone intending it to.
The consequence for privacy is serious. If you clear the author field and your editor saves an incremental update, the file now displays no author — while still physically containing the original one a few kilobytes earlier. Anyone opening the file in a text editor, or running a forensic tool, can read it. Redactions applied this way have leaked repeatedly in exactly this fashion.
This tool rewrites the whole document rather than appending to it, so superseded revisions are not carried into the output. The test suite asserts this by inflating every stream in the cleaned file and searching for the original values — the check that distinguishes a real clean from a cosmetic one.
What is preserved
Pages, text, fonts, images, links and form fields are copied across as the objects they already are. Nothing is re-rendered or re-compressed, so the document looks and prints exactly as before and stays selectable and searchable.
The file size usually drops slightly — occasionally a lot, if the document was carrying several revisions.
What this tool does not do
It removes metadata; it does not redact content. Text hidden behind a black rectangle is still text in the file, and removing metadata does nothing about it. Proper redaction means deleting the underlying content, which needs a dedicated tool.
Password-protected documents cannot be read or rewritten without the password, so they are rejected with a clear message rather than silently returning an unchanged file.
What this tool does
- Removes the info dictionary, the XMP packet and page-level application data
- Rewrites rather than appending, so superseded revisions are dropped
- Adds no metadata of its own — no producer line, no fresh timestamps
- Page content, fonts and images are copied across unchanged
What it does not do
- Not a redaction tool: content hidden under a black box is still in the file
- Password-protected PDFs are rejected rather than partially processed
- Digital signatures are invalidated by rewriting, as they are by any modification
Remove Metadata From a PDF
PDFs record who made them, with what software and when — and often keep earlier drafts inside the same file. See what yours contains, then remove it.
Open the toolReviewed and updated . Behaviour described on this page is covered by the project’s automated tests.
Frequently asked questions
Does removing PDF metadata change how the document looks?
No. Pages, text, fonts and images are copied across as they are. The document renders and prints identically, and text stays selectable and searchable.
Does this remove old versions of the document?
Yes. Because the file is rewritten rather than updated incrementally, revisions superseded by later edits are not carried into the output. That is verified by re-reading the cleaned file.
Can I clean a password-protected PDF?
No. Encrypted documents cannot be parsed without the password. Open it in a reader, save an unprotected copy, then clean that copy.
Is this the same as redacting a PDF?
No, and the difference matters. Redaction removes content from the page. This removes the metadata describing the document. Text concealed behind a shape is unaffected.
Will my digital signature survive?
No. A signature covers the exact bytes of the document, so any modification — including removing metadata — invalidates it. That is true of any tool that changes the file.
Is the PDF uploaded to a server?
No. It is read with the browser's File API and rewritten in page memory, the same as the image tools. You can confirm it in your browser's network tab.
Does it work on scanned PDFs?
Yes. A scan is images inside a PDF container, and the container's metadata — including the scanner model and driver — is removed the same way.
Can I clean a PDF with form fields?
Yes. Form fields are page objects and are copied across; only the document's metadata is removed.
Keep going
Related tools
- PDF Metadata RemoverA PDF metadata remover that shows the document properties first. Strip author, producer and XMP data in your browser, then verify the cleaned file.Open
- Delete PDF Metadata Before You ShareDelete the metadata inside a PDF before sharing it: author names, software fingerprints, timestamps and leftover revisions. Free and browser-based.Open
- Metadata RemoverFree metadata remover: strip EXIF, GPS, XMP and IPTC from images and PDFs in your browser. See every field a file carries, then verify the cleaned copy.Open
- Delete Image MetadataDelete the metadata inside an image file: EXIF, GPS coordinates, camera details and editing history. Runs in your browser with a before-and-after check.Open