Remove PDF Metadata
Your PDFs carry your name, your software version, your timezone, and your edit history.
Strip every field — including custom non-standard entries — in your browser.
Current metadata
Remove metadata
Every field below will be deleted from your PDF. Toggle off to edit specific fields instead.
Shown in the PDF reader's window title bar.
A one-line description of the document.
Separate with commas. Press Enter to add. Paste a comma-separated list to add many at once.
The software that originally exported the PDF.
The software that last wrote the PDF to disk.
yyyy-mm-dd. Time component is set to 00:00 UTC on save.
yyyy-mm-dd. Time component is set to 00:00 UTC on save.
Deletes every field plus any custom non-standard entries. Toggle off to edit specific fields instead.
About PDF metadata removal
What your PDFs typically leak
Open any PDF you didn't deliberately scrub and check the Author field — it is almost always your operating system user account ("Sarah Chen", "john.doe"). Microsoft Word populates Author from your Windows username on every export. The Creator field reveals the exact software version ("Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365", "Pages 13.2", "LibreOffice 24.2"). The Producer field shows what last wrote the file to disk — sometimes a different program ("macOS Quartz PDFContext"). The Modification Date carries the exact second you last touched the file in your local timezone. LibreOffice has historically leaked hostname in some export paths (a 2018 CVE-class disclosure, partially mitigated since). Scanner PDFs from Xerox, Canon, and HP often include scanner model, firmware version, and device serial in Creator or Producer fields.
Why strip rather than edit
Edit Metadata lets you change specific fields one at a time. Remove Metadata clears every field at once — useful before publishing a document on a public site, attaching to a privacy submission, or sending to a recipient who shouldn't see your software stack. If you want surgical edits (change just the Title, blank just the Author), use Edit Metadata. If you want the everything-goes path, use this tool. Both run on the same engine; pick by intent.
GDPR and the privacy compliance angle
GDPR Article 32 requires "appropriate technical measures" for personal data processing. Metadata fields that contain personal data — Author equals the data subject's real name; CreationDate equals an exact timestamp tying the document to a specific person's activity window — are arguably in scope. Stripping the Info Dictionary before distribution is one of the cheapest technical measures available. This tool runs entirely in your browser, so the original metadata never reaches anyone else's server. Combine with content redaction for full compliance; metadata stripping alone does not address visible-content disclosure.
What gets preserved
Document content, page structure, embedded images, fonts, page layout, embedded files, and signatures — all preserved exactly. The tool deletes only the Info Dictionary entries. Page-level metadata (per-page MediaBox, per-page annotations) is also preserved. XMP metadata is not stripped in v1 — most readers display the Info Dictionary preferentially when both are present, so user-visible metadata in PDF readers will read as cleared, but the XMP packet may carry stale duplicates. XMP support is a v1.1 enhancement. After stripping, the natural next step is Protect PDF to add a password before distribution, or Compress PDF if size matters before sharing.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does my PDF have my real name in it?
- The Author field defaults to your operating system user account. Word, Pages, LibreOffice, and most PDF exporters populate it from the system on export — usually without asking. The Creator and Producer fields similarly identify the exact software you used. Remove Metadata clears all of these.
- Will stripping metadata change the PDF content?
- No. Only the metadata block changes. Page content, fonts, images, page layout, embedded files, signatures — all preserved exactly. Remove Metadata is metadata-only; a re-export is not involved.
- What's the difference between this and Edit Metadata?
- Edit Metadata lets you change specific fields surgically (e.g., blank Author but keep Title). Remove Metadata clears every field at once, including custom non-standard entries. Both run on the same browser-side engine — pick by intent. Use Edit Metadata if you want surgical control.
- Is this enough for GDPR or privacy compliance?
- The tool strips the 8 standard Info Dictionary fields plus custom non-standard entries. XMP support is v1.1. For full compliance, also redact visible content (the metadata strip does not address visible-content disclosure) and consider PDF/A export. This tool addresses the technical-measures dimension of GDPR Article 32 specifically as it relates to metadata residue.
- Can someone recover the metadata after I strip it?
- No. pdfmundo writes a new PDF that does not contain the deleted Info Dictionary entries. The deleted fields are not recoverable from the downloaded file. Your original file on disk is unchanged — re-upload it any time to redo the strip.
- What if my PDF has custom metadata I want to keep?
- Use Edit Metadata instead. Remove Metadata is the everything-goes tool — it deletes the 8 standard fields plus any custom non-standard entries the producing software added. Edit Metadata preserves custom non-standard fields by default; only the standard fields you explicitly clear are removed.
- What's the maximum file size?
- 50 MB. Same cap as Edit Metadata, Crop PDF, Reorder Pages, Rotate, Delete Pages, Extract Pages, Page Numbers, and Watermark. Stripping itself is metadata-only at save time (sub-100ms even on large files), so the cap is bounded by typical browser memory rather than processing cost.
- What happens if my PDF is password-protected?
- Stripped metadata cannot be read from an encrypted PDF — the Info Dictionary is encrypted along with the rest of the document. The error state asks you to remove the password first. Remove it in your PDF software, then come back and strip metadata.
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