Remove metadata from a PDF
Strip the author name, company, timestamps, producing application and XMP packet from a PDF. The document is rebuilt inside this browser tab — the pages themselves are untouched and nothing is sent to a server.
What a PDF stores about you
A PDF keeps metadata in up to three places, and most tools clear only the first. The document information dictionary holds Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, the creating application and both timestamps — the Author field is usually whatever name your operating system account was set up with. The XMP packet holds a parallel copy plus editing history and document identifiers that persist across saves. Per-page metadata is rarer but survives every tool that only clears the information dictionary.
Your pages are not changed
Removing metadata means rewriting the file's internal object structure, because a PDF's cross-reference table records the byte position of everything in it. Page content streams are copied through untouched, so text, images, fonts, layout and page count come back exactly as they were.
Two things it will not do
- Password-protected PDFs are refused rather than silently corrupted. Remove the password first.
- Digital signatures will not survive, because a signature certifies the exact bytes of the file.
Frequently asked questions
Will removing metadata change how my PDF looks?
No. Page content streams are copied through unchanged, so text, images, fonts and layout are identical.
Does it remove the author name from a PDF?
Yes, along with Title, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, both timestamps, and any custom fields the producing application added.
Why did my PDF get bigger after cleaning?
The document is rebuilt rather than edited in place, so its internal objects are repacked. The removed-field list is the evidence that metadata is gone, not the file size.
Can it clean password-protected PDFs?
No. Encrypted files are refused rather than silently corrupted. Remove the password in your PDF reader first.
Is PDF cleaning free?
Your first PDF is free, so you can see it work on a real document before deciding. After that, unlimited PDF cleaning and batch processing are PRO features. Cleaning photos is free and unlimited either way.