How to remove metadata from a PDF

Step by step

1. Open PDF Privacy Check. Go to the PDF Privacy Check page on PlumPDF. Nothing to install and no account.
2. Add your PDF. Drop the file on the box. It is checked straight away, on your device, and the report lists what it found.
3. Choose what to remove. Everything is ticked except form entries. Untick anything you want to keep.
4. Remove and download. Press Remove. The clean copy is checked again and the result says if anything is left.

What is PDF metadata?

Metadata is information about a document that travels with it but does not appear on its pages. In a PDF it usually includes a title, the author's name, the program that made the file, and when it was created and last changed. Many PDFs keep a second copy of these details in a format called XMP, which can hold more, such as an editing history.

PDF readers show some of it in the document properties window, and search engines often use the title as the headline of a PDF in their results. Most people never look, which is why it so often gives away more than intended: a full name, a company, a draft title, or the date a "final" version was really made.

What hidden data is not metadata?

Properties are only part of what a PDF can carry besides its pages. Before sharing a sensitive file it is worth checking for these too:

• Earlier versions of the file, left inside it when a program saves only its changes. They can include text that was later deleted.
• Attached files, such as a spreadsheet the PDF was made from.
• Comments, highlights and notes, usually with the reviewer's name.
• Entries typed into form fields.
• Scripts and automatic actions that run when the file opens.
• Layers that are switched off, so their content is in the file but not shown.

Why does it matter where the cleaning happens?

If you are removing metadata, the file is probably one you would rather keep to yourself. Many online tools upload the file to a server to process it, which means handing the very document you are worried about to someone else first.

PlumPDF does the check and the clean-up in your browser tab. You can confirm it: open your browser's developer tools, choose the Network tab and run the check. No request carries your file. It also keeps working if you go offline after the page has loaded.

Only want to change the title or author?

Use Edit PDF Metadata instead. It shows the current title, author, subject and keywords in a form, lets you change or clear each one, and can remove all properties and dates at once. It works on one PDF or many.

Questions