How to Remove Hidden Metadata from a PDF

Every PDF carries properties you don't see on the page: the author's name, the program that made it, when it was created and last changed, sometimes a title, subject and keywords. To see and remove them, open the PDF Metadata Editor, add the PDF, review the fields, and click Remove all metadata. The pages themselves aren't touched.

Check and remove PDF metadata

1. Open the PDF Metadata Editor and add your PDF.
2. Look at what it reveals: Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator (application), Producer (PDF library), and the creation and modification dates.
3. Click Remove all metadata to clear every field and download the cleaned copy.

Or, to keep some details — a proper title, say — edit the fields you want and click Save changes instead.

What PDF metadata can give away

People are often surprised by what's in there:

• Author: usually the name from the account that created the document — your full name, a colleague's, or a client's from a template you reused.
• Creator and Producer: the software and version, such as "Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365" — which can reveal that a "scanned original" was actually typed.
• Dates: when the document was created and last modified, which can contradict the date printed on the page.
• Title and Subject: often left over from an earlier version — "Draft offer for Company X" in a letter sent to Company Y.
• Keywords: internal tags and project names.

When to strip metadata

• Before sending documents outside your organisation, especially templates, quotes and proposals built from earlier ones.
• Anonymous submissions: peer reviews, whistleblowing reports, blind job applications, competition entries.
• After redacting: a perfectly redacted document can still name the person in its Author field. Redact PDF clears properties automatically, but check other files too.
• Before publishing a PDF on a website, where search engines index its properties.

Removed for real, not hidden

PDFs can store properties twice: in the classic "document information" fields and in a separate block of XMP metadata. Many tools only clear one, leaving the other readable. Remove all metadata clears every field and deletes the hidden XMP copy too, so the old values are gone from the file.

What metadata removal doesn't do

It cleans the document's properties, not its content. These are separate jobs:

• Text on the page — names in headers, signatures, account numbers — needs Redact PDF.
• Comments and annotations may contain reviewers' names and remarks; flattening with Flatten PDF bakes in their appearance and removes the comment pop-ups.
• Photos inside the PDF may carry their own camera data. For photos you share directly, the EXIF Viewer & Remover strips GPS location and camera details.

Make it a habit for shared templates

The riskiest files are the ones copied from older documents: proposals, quotes and contracts based on last year's version for another client. Clearing the metadata of the template itself once saves you from leaking an old client's name in every document made from it.

Check the result

Open the cleaned file in a PDF viewer and look at its properties (in most viewers, File › Properties, or the ⓘ info panel). The fields should be empty. Some viewers show the file name in place of a missing title — the file name itself is worth checking, as it often includes names and dates too.

Frequently asked questions

Does removing metadata change how the PDF looks?

No. Pages, text, images, links and form fields are untouched.

Will my PDF still open everywhere?

Yes. Metadata is optional; every PDF reader opens documents without it.

Is the file uploaded?

No. The properties are read and cleared in your browser.