Remove metadata from a PDF

What does a PDF reveal without you knowing?

When you export a document to PDF, the program copies into the file the author’s name (often your username or your company’s name), the creation and modification dates, the program and its version, and sometimes the original file title. Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign can also store private application data.

If you send a contract, a CV, a proposal or an anonymous report, that data can reveal who made it, when or from which template. Removing it leaves a neutral PDF.

The tool deletes the document properties, the document’s XMP packet and those on pages, images and fonts, plus private application data, and cleans up the objects left unused so no leftovers remain in the file. Pages, text, images and links do not change.

Everything happens in your browser. If the PDF claims PDF/A compliance, the tool warns you: without XMP it no longer meets that archiving standard.

How to remove metadata from a PDF

1. 1Drag the PDF onto the tool or click to choose it.
2. 2Review the data it contains in the panel on the right.
3. 3Click “Remove metadata”.
4. 4Download the clean PDF: the tool checks how many fields are left.

When to use it

• Before sending a CV or a proposal to another company.
• To submit anonymous documents or blind reviews.
• To publish PDFs on your website without employee names.
• To remove private Illustrator or InDesign data before sending final artwork.
• To share contracts and quotes without their date history.

What gets removed

• Title, author, subject, keywords, application, producer and dates.
• The document’s XMP packet and those on pages, images and fonts.
• Private application data (Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign PieceInfo).
• Last-modified dates on pages.

Formats

• PDFs up to 100 MB.
• Protected or encrypted PDFs cannot be cleaned. Files attached to the PDF are not changed.

Frequently Asked Questions