Remove the author name from a PDF

Remove the author name from a PDF?

The author string in a PDF Info dictionary is not the same thing as a name printed on the page, and clearing Info plus the catalog Metadata stream in this browser still leaves page text, forms, annotations, attachments, and signatures in the file.

Last updated 2026-10-21

Last checked 2026-10-22

Three different authors

Info dictionary Author. The viewer prints it. The Info-only remover clears it.
Catalog Metadata, often XMP, which can carry dc:creator. The Info-only remover leaves that packet. The Info and XMP page deletes the catalog Metadata entry on files it can load.
A name drawn or typed on the page. Neither tool removes it. Redaction is a different edit.

A practical order

Read the file in the PDF metadata viewer. If you only need the Info fields blank, use the PDF metadata remover and accept that XMP remains. If you also want the catalog Metadata stream gone, use PDF Info and XMP and read the after column. Then decide whether a signature still matters. Saving a new PDF can invalidate one. This site does not verify signatures.

Do not send an encrypted PDF through these pages expecting it to open. They do not ask for a password.

Sources

ExifTool PDF tags

Last checked 2026-10-22.

Questions

Which page clears only Info?

The PDF metadata remover. It says XMP stays. Open the download in the PDF metadata viewer and look for the author row and the XMP line.

Which page clears Info and catalog XMP?

The Info and XMP remover. It reads, rewrites, and reads again. Encrypted files are refused. The session sample lost both GapPdfAuthor and the XMP marker.

What about ExifTool?

It can write the Author tag, and the PDF tag page says that write is an incremental update. Old information stays in the file until you linearize it, for example with qpdf --linearize in.pdf out.pdf.

Remove the author name from a PDF