Remove PDF Metadata — Free, No Upload
Every PDF carries hidden document information: who wrote it, what software made it, and when. See exactly what yours is carrying, then strip it.
What a PDF Quietly Stores About You
Alongside the words on the page, a PDF keeps a small dictionary of document information. Nothing on screen hints at it, but anyone who opens the file properties can read it in two clicks.
| Field | What it commonly gives away |
|---|---|
| Author | A real full name, or a network username like j.smith |
| Title | An internal working title that differs from the public one |
| Subject & Keywords | Project codenames, client names, classification labels |
| Creator | The application it was written in, and its version |
| Producer | The PDF engine, which fingerprints your toolchain |
| Created & Modified | That a document dated last month was produced this morning |
This matters most for the files people send to strangers: CVs, tenders, quotations, legal submissions and anything published on a website. A CV whose Author field carries your previous employer’s username is a small thing that is easy to avoid.
Why the dates become 1970 rather than vanishing
Blanking a timestamp is not always possible — many readers and writers stamp today’s date into an empty field, which swaps one disclosure for another. Setting a fixed epoch value keeps the field structurally valid while telling the reader nothing.
What this does not do
This clears the document information fields. It does not remove content hidden inside the page — text sitting under a black rectangle, material outside the visible page area, or data embedded in an image. Those are different problems with a different fix: use Redact PDF to permanently delete visible content, and read how to redact a PDF properly first, because covering text is not the same as removing it.
A Sensible Order of Operations
If you are preparing a document to send outside your organisation, metadata is the last step, not the first — every tool that rewrites a PDF can reintroduce its own Producer line. Finish the content, redact anything sensitive, compress if it needs to be smaller, add a password if required, and strip the metadata last.
Frequently Asked Questions
What metadata does a PDF contain?
Title, author, subject, keywords, the authoring application (Creator), the PDF writer (Producer), and creation and modification timestamps.
Why does PDF metadata matter?
It routinely leaks a real name, an internal project code, the software your organisation uses, or the true age of a document. None of it is visible on the page.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read and rewritten entirely in your browser. Nothing reaches a server.
Does this remove text hidden inside the document?
No. It clears document information fields only. To permanently delete visible content use Redact PDF.
Why are dates set to 1970 rather than removed?
Many readers write today’s date into an empty timestamp, replacing one disclosure with another. A fixed epoch keeps the field valid but uninformative.