Remove the Hidden Metadata from a PDF
See the author, software and dates your PDF is carrying, then strip them out. Shows you what was there before it removes it. Runs in your browser with nothing uploaded.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded
What a PDF says about you
Every PDF carries a set of fields describing itself, and almost nobody looks at them. A document exported from a word processor typically records the file’s title, the name on the account that created it, the software and version used, and the dates it was created and last edited.
None of it is visible on the page. All of it travels with the file to every person it is ever sent to, and any of them can see it in a properties panel. That is how a CV can quietly name your current employer’s software, and how a document sent as anonymous can turn out to be signed with a full name.
Shown first, removed second
The fields are listed the moment you choose a file, before anything is stripped. That order is deliberate: you cannot judge whether the metadata matters until you have seen what is actually in there, and for most people this is the first time they have.
If the list is empty, the tool says so rather than pretending to work.
What this does not do
It clears the document information dictionary, which is where the identifying fields a reader displays actually live. That is the answer for the common case and it is not the whole story:
- Photographs placed in the document may carry their own EXIF data, including a camera model and sometimes GPS coordinates. That sits inside the images and is untouched here.
- A name written on the page itself is page content, not metadata. No tool of this kind will remove it.
- A PDF that has been edited and saved incrementally can retain earlier revisions inside the file. Clearing the current fields does not reach into that history.
For a genuinely sensitive document, printing to a fresh PDF from your reader discards all of that at once, at the cost of any interactive content. It is the more complete answer, and it is worth knowing that rather than being told this tool is enough.
The file still works normally
Document information is descriptive rather than structural — readers show it in a panel and otherwise ignore it entirely. Pages, fonts, forms, links and signatures come through untouched, and the document opens exactly as before with an empty properties panel.
The other tools here do not add any
Worth stating, because it took a deliberate fix to make true. The PDF library this site uses stamps its own name and the current date into every file it saves, unless it is explicitly told not to — which would have meant every tool here quietly signing your documents with a library URL and the day you used it.
It is switched off across the site. A file that goes through merging, rotating, numbering or watermarking comes out carrying what it arrived with and nothing new. Files rebuilt from scratch, like the output of deleting pages, start with no fields at all.
Frequently asked questions
What is actually in there?
Usually more than people expect. A PDF exported from a word processor routinely carries the title of the document, the name on the account that created it, the software and version used, and the dates it was created and last changed. All of it travels with the file to everyone it is ever sent to, and none of it is visible on the page.
Why show me the fields before removing them?
Because you cannot judge whether it matters until you have seen it. Most people have never looked, and the useful moment is the one where a file turns out to be signed with a full name or an old employer’s software. The tool lists what it found, then clears it — in that order, deliberately.
Does this make the document anonymous?
No, and it would be dishonest to imply it. This clears the document information fields, which is where the identifying entries a reader displays actually live. It does not touch metadata inside images the document contains, it cannot remove a name that is written on the page itself, and it will not undo anything a previous editor left in the file’s revision history. For a genuinely sensitive document, printing to a fresh PDF is the more complete answer.
Will the file still open normally?
Yes. Document information is descriptive rather than structural — readers show it in a properties panel and otherwise ignore it. Pages, fonts, forms, links and signatures are untouched, and the file opens exactly as before with a blank properties panel.
Do the other tools on this site add metadata?
No, and it took a deliberate fix to make that true. The PDF library used here stamps its own name and the current date into every file it saves unless explicitly told not to — which would mean every tool here quietly signing your documents. It is switched off, so a file that goes through merging, rotating or numbering comes out carrying what it arrived with and nothing new.