PDFGym
EN

Remove metadata from a PDF

or drop one here
Choose a PDF file first.

Open a finished PDF, review every metadata finding with its value, untick anything you mean to keep, and download a verified copy with -metadata-free in its name. Entries are deleted from the file structure, not blanked, and the cleaned file is reopened to confirm the chosen data left while every page and character stayed.

The proposal that names its author twice

This page cleans the data around your pages: the author name, the software trail, the timestamps, the keywords, the XMP packet, the trailer identifier and any embedded files. If the file travels to clients, portals or the public web, that envelope deserves a look first.

Say the studio is about to send Brand-Proposal-v9.pdf to a client on Thursday: twelve pages, polished, but the file properties still show the designer's name, the home edition software, and a modification stamp from 2 a.m. You open the finished file here last, after every edit: seven findings listed with their values, all selected, one press of Remove metadata. The client receives Brand-Proposal-v9-metadata-free.pdf: same pages, no biography.

What the scan can surface:

Hiding places inside an ordinary PDF
Hiding placeWhat it can revealDefault
Author and title fieldsWho made it and what it was calledSelected
Producer and creatorWhich software built itSelected
Creation and modification datesWhen it was made and last touchedSelected
XMP packetA second copy of the same storySelected
Trailer identifierAn ID that links this file to its siblingsSelected
Embedded filesWhole attachments riding alongSelected

Removal deletes the entries from the file structure; nothing is blanked in place. The reopen check then proves three things: every selected finding is gone, every unticked finding remains, and every page with its selectable characters survived. The proof line reports pages inspected, percent of selectable text kept and items removed.

Four steps from leaky file to clean copy

  1. Choose the finished PDF

    Press Choose a PDF or drop the file onto the page. Run this last: later edits write fresh metadata onto the cleaned copy.

  2. Review every finding

    The scan lists document fields, software, dates, XMP, identifiers and embedded files with their values. Values never leave this tab.

  3. Choose what to remove

    Every finding starts selected. Untick, or press Deselect all and re-tick only what must go; Select all restores the full sweep.

  4. Remove and download

    Press Remove metadata. The cleaned file is reopened and checked before Download metadata-free PDF appears.

Clean copies that dirty themselves again

Scrubbing before the last edit is the classic: compressing, merging or annotating afterwards writes a new producer tag or modification date. Always clean the final copy, after compress, merge and stamp.

Unticking the trailer identifier on purpose is fine; unticking by accident ships a file ID that links your uploads together. Read the values before pressing Remove metadata, and rescan the download when chaining tools.

A locked file stops the scan before anything is listed. Open it with Unlock PDF first, then clean the open copy. Files with nothing to list report No supported private metadata found; there is nothing to remove.

When metadata is not the leak

Names printed on the pages survive this tool by design: a footer credit, a scanned signature, a letterhead. Those are page content and belong to Redact PDF, which destroys them properly.

Privacy scan runs this same sweep under a broader name: same findings, same checks, a file with -cleaned in its name instead. Either door leads here. When the pages themselves must stay closed, Password protect PDF locks the cleaned copy.

Short answers about PDF metadata

Will cleaning change how the pages look?
No. Pages, fonts and layout are untouched; only the surrounding data entries are deleted. The reopen check confirms every page and selectable character survived.
Can I keep the title but drop the author?
Yes. Untick individual findings to keep them; the check confirms kept items remain and selected ones are gone.
What happens to embedded attachments?
They are listed as findings and detached when selected. The pages never notice; recipients lose the stowaways.
Why did the producer field come back?
Another tool touched the file after cleaning and signed its work. Clean last, and rescan whenever a cleaned file passes through anything else.
Does this clean words on the pages?
No. The scan explicitly skips printed words. Redact PDF handles page content; this page handles the envelope.

Neighbors that finish the job

Each tool below runs in the browser with no account and checks its own output first. Redact the pages, clean the envelope here, then lock and send.