PDF Metadata Remover

What your PDFs are telling people

Every PDF carries document properties most people never look at: title, author, subject, keywords, the creating application, the producing library, and creation and modification timestamps. Word fills the author field with your account name automatically. Scanners record the device model. Export tools record their own version.

On a CV, that often means your full name or a Windows username travels with the file even if the visible document uses only initials. On a document circulated between parties, the modification timestamp reveals when it was last touched, which is not always something you want disclosed.

What removal covers

The standard document properties are cleared: title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer, and both dates. The pages themselves are untouched - identical text, identical images, identical layout, identical file structure.

What it does not remove is anything written into the pages. A name in a letterhead, a signature block, a watermark, a header carrying a matter number - those are page content, and removing them requires redaction rather than metadata clearing.

Do this before encrypting, not after

Password protecting a PDF encrypts the contents but leaves the metadata dictionary readable in many cases, and an encrypted file cannot be processed by other tools until it is unlocked. Clear the metadata first, then apply protection. The same order applies to redaction: redact, clear metadata, then encrypt.