About PDF metadata remover
Metadata leaks are mundane and constant. A contract sent to a client carries the name of the paralegal who drafted it. A public report carries a Producer string naming an internal document-management system and its version. A CV shows a creation date two years earlier than the job application, or a modification timestamp at 3am. Occasionally a file path appears in full, exposing an internal directory structure or a home-directory username. Documents built from templates sometimes retain the original client's name in the Title field. None of this is visible when you open the file, and all of it travels with it. This tool empties six document information fields — Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator and Producer — and removes other non-standard keys from that dictionary. It deletes the catalog's XMP reference, but the unreferenced XMP stream can remain in the saved file. Existing creation and modification dates and document identifiers are not removed. This is a limited properties cleanup, not secure erasure or guaranteed anonymisation. The visible content — text, images, layout, form fields — is untouched. Because the operation runs in your browser, the data you are trying not to disclose is not uploaded in the act of removing it.
How to PDF metadata remover
- 01
Check first, if you like
Run PDF Metadata Viewer to see what is actually there. It usually makes the case for itself.
- 02
Load the document
Drop in the final version of the file you are about to send or publish.
- 03
Strip
Run the tool to empty six standard information fields, remove custom information keys and detach the catalog's XMP reference. Dates and document identifiers remain.
- 04
Verify before sharing
Re-run the viewer to check the properties shown, but do not treat an absent XMP reference as proof of erased bytes. Use a secure sanitisation workflow if disclosure would be harmful.
What this tool does
- Empties Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator and Producer, and detaches the catalog's XMP reference without guaranteeing removal of its bytes
- Removes custom information-dictionary keys such as Company; existing timestamps and document identifiers are left alone
- Leaves visible content, layout, bookmarks and form fields entirely intact
- The data being removed is never uploaded — stripping happens in the tab
- Produces a normal PDF with the selected properties cleared, not a file guaranteed to be free of identifying history
Limitations worth knowing
Every PDF tool has constraints. Stating them plainly is more useful than discovering them halfway through your work.
- Metadata inside embedded objects — XMP attached to an individual placed image, for example — is not reached by a document-level strip.
- Content is untouched by design: a name typed into the visible text of a page stays there. Use Redact PDF for that.
- Existing creation and modification timestamps are preserved. This tool does not set a fresh modification date or require one to exist.
- Deleting the catalog's XMP reference does not securely erase its stream: unreferenced XMP bytes can remain in the saved file even when a metadata viewer reports no attached packet.
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 remover
What can PDF metadata actually reveal?
Commonly the author's real name or account name, the exact software and version used, creation and modification timestamps, and the document title inherited from a template. Less often but not rarely, a full local file path exposing an internal directory or username.
Does stripping metadata change how the document looks?
Not at all. Metadata is descriptive data about the file, stored separately from page content. Text, images, fonts and layout are identical in the output.
Will the output have no dates at all?
No. Existing CreationDate and ModDate values are retained, not cleared or refreshed. A date absent from the source is not added just because the PDF is saved. Do not use this tool to remove dates or to conceal the document's history.
Is this enough to anonymise a document?
No. It clears some identifying properties, but dates, document identifiers and unreferenced XMP bytes can remain. Names in visible text, distinctive fonts, embedded images with their own metadata, and writing style also remain. A properties dialog showing empty fields is not proof of secure erasure; use a sanitisation workflow designed and verified for sensitive disclosure.
Tools that pair with this one
- PDF Metadata ViewerRead the fields a PDF carries about itself, including the raw XMP.
- Edit PDF MetadataSet a document’s properties deliberately instead of inheriting them.
- PDF Metadata CleanerAttempt standard metadata cleanup, with image compression still enabled and no secure-erasure guarantee.
- PDF Security AnalyzerNot just what is in the file — which parts of it are a problem.
- Compress PDFMake a PDF smaller by re-encoding its images and cleaning up its internals.
- PDF Encryption CheckerOne question, answered exactly: what encryption does this file use?