Strip hidden info before sharing.

How it works

How to remove metadata from a PDF

1. 1

   Load your PDF

   Open the tool and drop in your PDF. The file is processed locally - it never leaves your device or touches a server.

2. 2

   Review existing metadata

   PDFsuite reads and displays the current document properties including author, creator application, creation date, modification date, subject, and any XMP metadata fields.

3. 3

   Strip and download

   Click "Remove Metadata" to clear all document info and XMP fields. Download the clean PDF - no hidden data remains to identify you or reveal the document history.

Every PDF file carries metadata embedded by the application that created it. This typically includes the author name from the operating system user account, the software used (such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat), the exact creation and modification timestamps, GPS coordinates if the document originated on a mobile device, and sometimes a full editing history. This information is invisible in normal viewing but can be extracted trivially by anyone who receives the file. PDFsuite removes all of it locally in your browser, with no upload required.

Metadata removal is a critical step before sharing any document where anonymity or confidentiality matters. Journalists protecting sources, lawyers submitting public records requests, researchers publishing drafts, and businesses sharing proposals with competitors all have legitimate reasons to strip identifying information before distribution. PDF metadata has been used in forensic investigations to identify whistleblowers and determine document provenance - removing it proactively is a straightforward privacy measure.

PDFsuite clears both the standard PDF document information dictionary (title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer, dates) and the XMP metadata stream, which can contain even more detailed provenance information. The resulting file is a clean, standard PDF that opens normally in all readers. The tool is free and works offline after loading - no account, no cloud processing, no record of your file being processed.

FAQ

Common questions

What types of metadata does PDFsuite remove?

PDFsuite clears the PDF document information dictionary (author, title, subject, keywords, creator application, producer, creation date, modification date) and the embedded XMP metadata stream. This covers all standard metadata fields defined in the PDF specification and removes personally identifiable information that authoring tools embed by default.

Will removing metadata change how the PDF looks or behaves?

No. Metadata is stored in a separate section of the PDF file and has no effect on page content, fonts, images, or interactive elements. The document will look and behave identically after metadata is removed - only the hidden document properties are changed.

Is browser-based metadata removal as thorough as dedicated tools like ExifTool?

For PDF-specific metadata it is equivalent. PDFsuite targets all metadata locations defined in the PDF specification. ExifTool and similar tools perform the same operations on the same fields. If a document contains embedded files (such as email attachments inside a PDF portfolio), those embedded files may carry their own metadata - for that use case, a full portfolio extraction and per-file cleaning is recommended.