About PDF metadata cleaner
A PDF records a great deal about its own creation that never appears on any page. There are the document information entries — author, title, subject, keywords, the producing application and its version, creation and modification timestamps — and alongside them an XMP packet, an embedded XML block that often duplicates those fields and adds more, including editing history and identifiers that persist across saves. Files assembled from several sources can carry several such packets layered on top of one another. That data travels with the document and may be recoverable with appropriate PDF inspection software; it is not necessarily all stored as readable plain text. This page attempts limited metadata cleanup through the compression engine: eight standard Info keys are targeted and the catalog XMP reference is detached. Custom Info entries, page metadata, document IDs and detached XMP bytes may remain; this is not secure sanitization. The fixed settings are 95% JPEG quality and a 300 DPI downsampling target, with no controls to disable image processing. Supported images may be re-encoded, and images above the target may lose pixels where placement can be measured. Accepted image changes are lossy even at these settings, so keep the original and inspect detailed images before sharing. The rewritten candidate is returned only when it is smaller than the input. Otherwise the original bytes are returned, with all original metadata and images unchanged. Read the returned-file result rather than treating candidate cleanup counts or the download name as proof that metadata was removed.
How to PDF metadata cleaner
- 01
Add the document
Add the PDF you want to inspect and clean, and keep its original. Do not treat this step as secure removal of hidden data before publication or sharing.
- 02
Inspect supported metadata
A metadata viewer can show fields it supports, but it is not a complete audit of hidden data. Information can also remain in custom entries, page metadata, annotations and detached streams.
- 03
Run and check the report
Run the cleaner with its fixed settings. Metadata cleanup is limited, images may also change, and the report states whether the rewrite or the unchanged original is returned.
- 04
Save the returned file
The download uses a -compressed.pdf suffix even when it contains the original bytes. Inspect the returned file before sharing; the name does not prove cleanup or image preservation.
What this tool does
- Uses fixed 95% JPEG quality and a 300 DPI target; accepted image changes remain lossy
- Targets eight standard Info keys and detaches the catalog XMP reference; other metadata and detached XMP bytes may remain
- Targets standard Producer and Creator fields when a smaller rewritten PDF is returned
- Targets standard creation and modification dates, without clearing timestamps from every metadata store
- Runs locally, so a document you are cleaning for privacy is never uploaded in the process
Limitations worth knowing
Every PDF tool has constraints. Stating them plainly is more useful than discovering them halfway through your work.
- Confidential page content is not removed by metadata cleanup and needs genuine redaction. Text inside images may also change in appearance through lossy image encoding; that is not redaction.
- Annotation and form-field contents may carry author names of their own; those are part of page content, not document metadata.
- A rewritten output invalidates existing digital signatures. If the original is returned unchanged, its signed bytes are unchanged too; this tool does not validate signatures.
- There is no metadata-only or image-preservation mode on this page. If the rewrite is not smaller, the download retains the original metadata and images.
How your file is handled
This tool runs entirely inside this browser tab. When you choose a file, your browser reads it from your own disk and hands the bytes to JavaScript running on this page — no network request carries your document anywhere. You can confirm that yourself: open your browser’s developer tools, switch to the Network panel, and run the tool. You will see no upload.
Nothing is stored after the fact. Closing or reloading this tab discards the file, the result and everything derived from them, because none of it ever left your machine. Read how local processing works.
Questions about PDF metadata cleaner
What exactly is stored in PDF metadata?
Typically the author, title, subject and keywords, the producing and creating applications with their version strings, and creation and modification timestamps. The XMP packet can add editing history, document identifiers that survive across saves, and in some cases file system paths from the machine that produced the file.
Is this really lossless?
No. This page uses the compression engine, not a metadata-only pass. Its fixed 95% JPEG quality and 300 DPI target can still re-encode or downsample supported images. Cleanup also leaves some metadata stores and detached XMP bytes in the file. If the candidate is not smaller, the original is returned with no cleanup applied. Keep the original and inspect the result.
Why does removing metadata matter?
Metadata can reveal author names, software details and document timestamps that you did not intend to share. Those fields can also be incomplete or misleading, so they do not reliably establish authorship or editing history. This page performs limited cleanup rather than secure erasure: inspect the returned file and use a suitable sanitization workflow when hidden data must be removed.
Does this remove text hidden behind a black rectangle?
No, and this is an important distinction. A drawn rectangle sits above text that remains fully present in the file and can be copied straight out. That is page content requiring genuine redaction, not metadata cleanup.
Will the file get much smaller?
It depends on the document. The shared compression engine also attempts image re-encoding and object-stream rewriting, so any saving is not necessarily from metadata cleanup. Detaching the catalog XMP reference does not erase its stream bytes. If the rewritten PDF is not smaller, you receive the original unchanged, including its metadata.
Tools that pair with this one
- PDF Metadata RemoverClear selected document properties before sharing; this is not secure anonymisation.
- PDF Metadata ViewerRead the fields a PDF carries about itself, including the raw XMP.
- PDF OptimizerTry structural rewriting and image compression, then check the returned file and reported saving.
- PDF InspectorA complete technical report on any PDF, produced without uploading it.
- Compress PDFMake a PDF smaller by re-encoding its images and cleaning up its internals.
- Compress PDF for WebTry reducing a published PDF's download size without assuming every image will suit a low-resolution target.
Read more about this
- How to compress a PDFCompression is four independent levers, three of them lossy. This guide explains what each one does to your pages so you can choose deliberately rather than guess.6 min guide
- How to reduce PDF file size to meet a limitWritten for the case where a number is imposed on you — an email cap or an upload form. How to converge on a target quickly and what to do when you cannot reach it.6 min guide