What Remove PDF Metadata does
Every PDF carries a hidden information block: the title, the author's name, the software that produced it, creation and modification dates, keywords, and often an XMP packet with much more — the original document's path, the company name from an Office licence, the editing history. This tool clears the Info dictionary and deletes the XMP metadata stream, then saves a clean copy. The pages are untouched. It runs in your browser; the file is never uploaded.
What is in PDF metadata
| Field | Typical content | Why it can matter |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Login name or full name from Word / Acrobat | Reveals who wrote a 'anonymous' document |
| Title | Often the original filename, e.g. 'Draft v3 FINAL rejected.docx' | Leaks internal naming |
| Creator / Producer | Application and version | Fingerprints your software |
| CreationDate / ModDate | Timestamps with time zone | Shows when and where it was made |
| Keywords / Subject | User-entered tags | May contain project codes |
| XMP packet | All of the above plus document ID, history, sometimes the source path | The richest leak; ignored by simple 'clear properties' commands |
What the tool removes — and what it does not
- Removed: all Info dictionary entries and the XMP metadata stream attached to the document catalog.
- Kept: page content, images, fonts, links, bookmarks, form fields.
- Not covered: text visible on the page (a name in a footer), metadata inside embedded images (EXIF in a photo placed in the PDF), comments and annotations that carry an author name, and XMP packets attached to individual images or fonts. Check those separately if the document is sensitive.
When to strip metadata
- Publishing a document from an organisation where the author should not be identified — press releases, policies, reports.
- Sending a CV, a quote or a proposal produced from a template that still names the previous client in its title.
- Sharing a document anonymously — whistleblowing, competitions judged blind, peer review.
- Cleaning up files before uploading them to a public website, where search engines index the metadata title.
- Removing timestamps that contradict a stated date.
Checking the result
Open the output in any viewer and look at Document Properties (Acrobat: File → Properties; Preview: Tools → Show Inspector; Chrome: the info panel). The fields should be empty, and the producer may show the library that saved the file. On the command line, exiftool file.pdf or pdfinfo file.pdf list everything that remains.