Remove Metadata from PDF

A PDF carries more than its pages. The file usually records who wrote it, which app made it, when it was created and edited, and sometimes a full edit history. This tool removes that metadata in your browser, re-scans the new file to show the fields are gone, and checks that every page is unchanged.

• Processed in your browser, no upload. The PDF never leaves your device.
• Re-scan of the cleaned file. The After column comes from opening the new file again, and the removed names and dates are searched for in its bytes.
• Layout and content unchanged. Every page is compared with the original before you can download it.

What PDF metadata reveals

Open almost any PDF in a metadata viewer and you will find some of these:

Field	Typical value	What it gives away
Author	The name on the Word or Google account	Who wrote it, even when the document is meant to be anonymous
Title, Subject, Keywords	Often an old draft title	Internal names, client names, “DRAFT do not share”
Creator and Producer	“Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365”, “Acrobat PDFMaker”, “LibreOffice”, “Skia/PDF”	The software and version you use, sometimes the operating system
CreationDate and ModDate	Down to the second, with a time zone	When you worked on it and roughly where you are
XMP packet	An XML copy of the above plus document IDs	A second copy of the author and dates that many tools forget to clear
XMP edit history	Saved in Word, then Acrobat, three times	Each save, the app that did it, and when
Image EXIF in scans	Scanner or phone model, scan time, GPS	The device and place a page was scanned
PieceInfo	Private editor data (Illustrator can store its own file here)	Layers, file paths and user names from the source app

Two copies matter. Most PDFs keep the same author and dates both in the Info dictionary and in the XMP packet, and a PDF edited after it was made can still hold the old values in an earlier revision inside the file. Clearing one copy is not enough. This tool removes both and rebuilds the file without the old revisions.

How to remove metadata from a PDF

1. Drop the PDF on the tool above, or press Try sample PDF to see a file with typical metadata.
2. Press Inspect only if you want to read the list first. Nothing changes yet.
3. Press Clean this PDF. The tool removes the metadata, writes a new file, opens it again and compares every page with the original.
4. Read the Before and After table and the re-scan lines, then press Download cleaned PDF. The new name ends in -cleaned.pdf.

What is removed and what is kept

Removed

• The document information dictionary: Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, CreationDate, ModDate, Trapped and custom keys.
• XMP metadata streams on the document, pages, images and fonts, including the edit history, document IDs and PDF/A flags. Also the XMP packet inside XFA forms.
• Editor private data (PieceInfo) and LastModified stamps.
• C2PA Content Credentials embedded as an associated file.
• EXIF, XMP, IPTC and comment segments inside JPEG images. The compressed image data is byte-for-byte the same.
• Old revisions and unused objects, so values from earlier saves do not survive. The file gets a new random ID.

Kept, and listed so you can see them

• Everything drawn on the page: text, fonts, vector graphics, images.
• Links, bookmarks, form fields and their values, comments and their author names, attachments, document JavaScript, the language and accessibility tags.
• Digital signatures stay in place, but a cleaned signed PDF no longer validates. You are asked before that happens.

When to clean a PDF

• Resumes and cover letters. The Author field often shows a different name, an old employer’s account, or a template owner. Creation dates show how long ago the CV was written.
• Legal and HR documents. Drafts exported from Word carry the drafter’s name and the firm’s software. Send the cleaned copy to the other side.
• Double-blind peer review. Journals and conferences ask authors to remove names from the PDF properties. Clean the submission PDF, then check the After column is empty.
• Sharing documents in public. Reports, flyers and forms posted online keep the author, the app and the dates. Scanned forms can carry the scanner’s EXIF and location.
• AI-generated PDFs. Some generators add Content Credentials or an AI source type to the XMP. Those are removed with the rest of the metadata.

Limits

• It does not change visible content and does not redact text. Names written on the page stay on the page.
• Password-protected and encrypted PDFs, including ones with only edit restrictions, are refused. Nothing is changed.
• Damaged or incomplete PDFs are refused rather than repaired, so you never get a broken file back.
• Files up to 100 MB. Large files can take several seconds on a phone.
• Images other than JPEG (for example JPEG 2000) are left untouched; they do not carry an EXIF block of the same kind.
• Comments, attachments and form data are content, not metadata, and are kept. Delete them in your PDF editor if they should not be shared.
• Cleaning a signed PDF breaks the signature. Clean first, then sign.
• The cleaned file can be a little larger than the original, because it is written in the most compatible PDF layout.

Images too

Photos and AI images have their own metadata: EXIF, GPS, XMP and C2PA Content Credentials. The image metadata remover handles JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC and more, and the guide by file type covers each format.

Exporting the PDF from Word? The original .docx keeps its own author, company, template path and photo EXIF. The Word document metadata remover cleans .docx, .xlsx and .pptx files the same way, in the browser.

Upload removers that also list PDF are compared on the Metadata2Go alternative, Pics.io metadata remover alternative, exif.tools alternative, and ExifCleaner alternative.