Remove metadata from a PDF before you send it.
Clear the document information dictionary on this device: author, title, subject, keywords, creator, producer, and the creation and modification dates. The PDF is not uploaded. Words printed on the pages stay in the file.
What metadata does this PDF remover clear?
Clear the document information dictionary on this device: author, title, subject, keywords, creator, producer, and the creation and modification dates. The PDF is not uploaded. Words printed on the pages stay in the file. Deleting an author name that is typed in the contract is redaction, and this tool does not redact. Encrypted editing stays off.
| Tool | Where the PDF is processed | Scope you can expect here |
|---|---|---|
| CreatorPrivacyKit | In the browser. The file is not uploaded. | Clears supported Info fields only. XMP, page text, forms, attachments, and signatures stay. Encrypted editing stays off. |
| PDF24 Remove PDF metadata | PDF24’s page says you upload the PDF and that removal runs on PDF24 servers. | Their page describes metadata removal. This site does not re-test their files. Use them only if uploading the PDF is acceptable. |
| ExifTool | On your computer after you install it. Guides show exiftool -all= clearing document info and XMP. | Wider write scope than this page. This remover does not clear XMP. |
| Acrobat hidden-information tools | Desktop Acrobat. A different product from this browser editor. | This page does not claim Acrobat’s full hidden-data sweep. |
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Info fields this remover clears, and what it leaves
Cleared from the document information dictionary:
- Title (document name stored in document properties)
- Author (creator name or company user identity)
- Subject (summary or project topic tags)
- Keywords (search metadata and indexing labels)
- Creator (application that authored the document, e.g. Word, Pages)
- Producer (PDF library or conversion software, e.g. Quartz, Distiller)
- CreationDate and ModDate (exact timestamps of document creation and modification)
Left in the file:
- Visible page text, including a name typed in the contract body (fixture MR-PDF-007 stayed PARTIAL for that reason)
- XMP metadata. This editor does not delete the catalog XMP packet
- Form values, annotations, attachments, JavaScript, and signature dictionaries
- The original file on your device. You download a separate copy
How to remove metadata from a PDF
Read the Info fields first
Open the PDF metadata viewer and check author, title, creator, producer, and dates. Encrypted files are reported as encrypted and are not unlocked.
Open metadata mode
Use the button above. It loads the local PDF toolkit with ?mode=metadata. Drop the same PDF there.
Clear supported fields
Choose Clear supported metadata and download the new PDF. If the file is encrypted, that control stays off. A preview password does not turn on metadata editing.
Open the download again
Check the new file in the viewer or in your reader’s document properties. Title, author, subject, keywords, creator, and producer should be blank when those were standard Info fields. Then look at the page. Printed text is still there.
Clear Info and catalog XMP together
The steps above clear Info fields only. XMP stays. Open /tools/pdf-info-xmp/ to delete the catalog Metadata stream as well and read the new file again. That page still leaves page text, forms, annotations, attachments, and signatures.
What the September 2026 fixtures showed
Fixture MR-PDF-004 is a browser-checked PDF. After clearSupportedMetadata, title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer, and both dates were empty. Fixture MR-PDF-007 cleared the same Info fields and still showed the author name printed on the page, so that case is PARTIAL. The set is a first-party fixture run, not an industry audit. On 28 October 2026, Node ran pdf-lib 1.17.1 clearSupportedMetadata on a one-page 360 by 240 point PDF. Before the clear the file was 2482 bytes, SHA-256 da8074b268f3484af73d89a857efba737a72c87762a6406296cc9b599f4de71b, with Info title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer, creation date 2020-01-15T12:00:00.000Z, and modification date 2024-06-01T08:30:00.000Z. pdfinfo 24.02.0 also reported a Metadata stream and an AcroForm. After the clear the file was 2332 bytes, SHA-256 c1a3336e44bde4edeb4389ab7088ebc14c8837c17a0b2591d834670f6517f0ba. pdf-lib and pdfinfo no longer showed those Info fields. ExifTool 12.76 still read XMP-dc Title as XMP Title Night and XMP-dc Creator as XMP Author Night. pdftotext 24.02.0 still printed the page sentence and the form value. The field night.note still held that value. qpdf 11.9.0 read the same file. The in-browser Clear button was not used for this row. The record is docs/evidence/runs/2026-10-28-night-pdf-info.json. On 29 October 2026 Node ran the same clearSupportedMetadata on a different one-page 360 by 240 point PDF that also carried catalog XMP. Before the clear the file was 1175 bytes, SHA-256 de9e8967f9989b03e60017803ff806120da5eeac2c1fa62dbffb7234554e030e. pdfinfo 24.02.0 reported Title Comp29 Title, Author Comp29 Author, and Metadata Stream yes. After the Info clear the file was 1005 bytes, SHA-256 716796daf1a6dd3db0959c6e5ef34d591bc421b107077bc70fbe3144dd89869c. ExifTool 12.76 still read XMP-dc Title as Comp29 XMP Title. clearPdfInfoAndXmp on the same source wrote 452 bytes, SHA-256 e92b25c3c8ffc2c60d133eb83fc5006a1f3fc2ca748abd3f48e2da4257ec92fb, and pdfinfo then reported Metadata Stream no. ExifTool 12.76 -all= on a copy wrote 1458 bytes, SHA-256 63c14d078597af47a38bc23187de9b77c68293347f40c177a5587ea82aa52f01. That file is larger than the 1175 byte source, and pdfinfo reported Metadata Stream no. qpdf 11.9.0 --linearize on the ExifTool output exited 3 and warned that the operation succeeded with warnings. No output size from that command is in the record. The in-browser Clear button was not used for this row either. The record is docs/evidence/runs/2026-10-29-comp-fixtures.json.
See Metadata Removal Benchmark 2026Frequently Asked Questions
How do I remove metadata from a PDF?
Read the Info fields in the PDF metadata viewer, open this remover, clear the supported document properties, and open the download again. The new file should show blank title, author, subject, keywords, creator, and producer when those values lived in the Info dictionary.
Does remove PDF metadata online upload the file?
Not on this page. Inspection and the Info-field clear run in your browser. PDF24’s remove-metadata page says the file is uploaded and processed on PDF24 servers. This one does not do that.
Will this delete XMP, attachments, or the words on the page?
No. The clear covers the standard Info dictionary fields listed above. XMP, attachments, forms, annotations, JavaScript, and the visible page stay. Deleting an author name that is typed in the contract is redaction, and this tool does not redact.
Can I remove metadata from a password-protected PDF?
A password can unlock preview and PDF to images. Structural editing, including Clear supported metadata, stays disabled while the PDF is encrypted. This tool does not remove the password.
What happens to a digital signature?
Saving a new PDF can invalidate an existing signature. If the signed file must stay valid, do not clear its metadata.
Where should I look before I email or message the PDF?
Gmail Help limits personal account attachments to 25 MB, then switches the file to a Drive link. That is not every email host. WhatsApp Help allows a document up to 2 GB, which is a different path from a compressed photo. Either way, clean the Info fields before you attach the original file.