Remove the metadata
from a PDF.
A PDF says who wrote it, with which software, and when. Those lines travel with the file, and any reader can display them. Free, processed in France.
- tool.pricefree 0 €
- tool.installnothing to install
- tool.retentiondeleted after the job
- tool.hostingFrance 100%
Your files are processed on servers in France and deleted automatically once the job is done. More on security.
What it takes, what it gives back
- You uploadOne PDF file, up to 100 MB
- What happensThe document properties and the XMP block are taken out, and the file is rewritten
- You get backThe same PDF, stripped, under the name of the file you sent
- SafeguardImages and pages are carried over untouched. The document looks exactly as it did
- RetentionNone. The file you send and the file produced are erased once the job is done
Three steps, nothing to install
Upload your PDF
Drop the file you are about to send out. Up to 100 MB.
The properties are taken out
Title, author, subject, keywords, the software that produced the file, the creation and modification dates.
Download the stripped PDF
Your files are deleted once the job is done.
Three situations it was made for
A quote or a proposal going to a client
A document written from a template often carries the name of the colleague who built the template, and the date it was first created. Both show in the properties panel of any reader.
A file filed in a case or a tender
Anything you hand over is read by people who are looking. The creation date of a document says when the work started, whether or not you meant to say it.
A PDF published on a website
A file put online can be fetched and inspected by anyone. Its properties are part of what gets fetched.
What the tool actually does
What a PDF carries without showing it
Every PDF holds a set of document properties: a title, an author, a subject, keywords, the software that produced the file, a creation date and a modification date. Recent files also carry an XMP block, a second copy of the same information in a richer format. None of it appears on the page. All of it appears in the properties panel of any reader, and in the output of any command line tool.
This works on the properties, and stops there
The text printed on the pages is left exactly as it is, including a name or an address written in a paragraph. Taking a word out of the content itself is a different operation, and a heavier one: see redacting a PDF, which removes the text and turns the pages concerned into images.
Emptying a field and removing the block
The metadata editor writes a field empty and leaves the structure in place, which is what you want when you are correcting a title or an author. This tool takes the whole block out, which is what you want before a file leaves your organisation. Two jobs, two tools.
The document itself is untouched
The file is rewritten losslessly: every image keeps its resolution, every page keeps its text layer, every font stays embedded. A PDF whose text could be selected still can afterwards. The weight may move by a few kilobytes, which is the size of what was taken out.
Two files come back as they were, and the page says which
An archival PDF/A keeps its metadata: conformance to the standard rests on that block, and taking it out would leave a file that claims to be PDF/A without being one. A signed PDF is left alone as well, because rewriting it breaks the signature it carries. In both cases the job succeeds, the file comes back untouched, and the reason is written under the download button.
Before you upload anything
What exactly is removed?
The document properties, meaning the title, the author, the subject, the keywords, the producing software and the two dates, along with the XMP block that duplicates them.
Does the document look different afterwards?
No. Nothing on the page changes. The processing rewrites the file structure and leaves every image, font and character where it was.
Does this make my document anonymous?
It removes what the file says about itself. A name written in the text of the page stays there, and so does a signature drawn on a scan. For those, use redaction.
Can the metadata be recovered from the file afterwards?
Not from the file produced: the entries are gone from it. The copy you keep on your own machine still holds them.
Is the text still selectable?
Yes. Nothing is turned into an image, and the text layer is left alone.
Does it work on a PDF/A?
No, and the page says so when it happens. PDF/A conformance rests on the metadata block, so removing it would destroy the very thing that makes the document an archival file. The file comes back as it was. Convert it to an ordinary PDF first if the metadata has to go.
What about a signed PDF?
A file carrying an electronic signature is left alone and the page tells you why. Rewriting it, even losslessly, would break the signature.
Is the tool free?
Yes. Removing metadata is free, with no sign up and nothing to install.
Is there a usage limit?
Files are accepted up to 100 MB. After about twenty jobs in a day from the same connection, the tool offers you a free account so you can carry on.
Are my files kept?
No. The file you send and the stripped file are deleted automatically once the job is done.
Where are my files processed?
On servers in France. Your data stays in the European Union, under the GDPR.
More questions about the tools? See the toolbox section of the help centre.