Remove PDF Metadata
Strip the title, author, software and dates from a PDF before sharing it.
Before a document goes to a stranger, a public filing or a job application, it is worth removing the information nobody meant to include: your account name as author, the working title, and the software fingerprint. This clears those fields and hands you a cleaned copy.
Your file never leaves your device. It is read and processed by JavaScript running in this tab. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
Enter your details
Result
Fill in the fields above and your result will appear here.
What the Remove PDF Metadata does
The tool overwrites the document information dictionary — title, author, subject, keywords, creator and producer — and resets the timestamps. The page content is copied across untouched, so the document looks and prints exactly as before.
What it cannot do matters just as much. It does not remove text inside the document, EXIF data embedded in images, XMP metadata streams that some producers attach, or digital signatures. This is tidying, not anonymisation, and the tool says so on the result.
How to use this tool
- Check what is actually there first with the metadata viewer.
- Select the PDF here and press Remove metadata.
- Download the cleaned copy — your original is untouched.
- Verify by running the cleaned file back through the viewer.
What is cleared and what is not
CLEARED
Title, Author, Subject, Keywords
Creator, Producer
Creation and modification dates (reset)
NOT CLEARED
Text and images in the document itself
EXIF data inside embedded images (including GPS)
XMP metadata streams written by some producers
Digital signatures and their certificates
For content that must be unreadable, use redaction — metadata
removal does not touch the page content at all.
Worked example
Example: before and after
| Author before | rahul.s |
| Author after | empty |
| Producer before | Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365 |
| Producer after | empty |
| Page content | unchanged |
The document reads identically. Only the information about the document has gone.
What your result means
The cleaned file is a new document. Your original still has its metadata — keep or delete it as you prefer.
Verify afterwards by running the result through the viewer. It should show empty fields throughout.
This is not anonymisation. If the document itself names you, or a photo inside carries GPS data, removing metadata changes nothing about that.
Important considerations
- Photographs taken on a phone can carry GPS coordinates in their EXIF data. If those images are embedded in the PDF, that data may survive.
- Removing metadata invalidates any digital signature, because signing covers the whole document.
- Some PDF producers write an XMP stream in addition to the standard dictionary. This tool clears the dictionary; a determined examiner may still find XMP remnants.
- For genuine anonymity, rebuild the document from scratch in a clean account rather than cleaning an existing one.
- If the concern is content rather than metadata, redaction is the right tool.
Limitations of this tool
- Password-protected PDFs cannot be opened without the password and will report an error rather than failing quietly.
- Everything runs in your device's memory, so very large documents can be slow or exhaust available memory.
- Damaged or partially downloaded files cannot be parsed.
- XMP metadata streams and image-level EXIF data are not removed.
- Digital signatures are invalidated, as they are by any modification.
Frequently asked questions
Does this make my PDF anonymous?
No. It removes the document information fields, which is where most identifying details sit, but it does not touch the content, embedded image EXIF data or XMP streams. Treat it as tidying rather than anonymisation.
Will the document look different?
No. Page content is copied across unchanged — only the information about the document is cleared.
Is my original file changed?
No. The tool produces a new cleaned copy for download and never modifies the file on your device.
How do I check it worked?
Run the downloaded file through the metadata viewer. Every field should come back empty.