Remove author and metadata from a PDF

How it works

Tap or click the box and pick your PDF; you can select several files at once. There is one option and it concerns dates only: by default the creation and modification dates are removed along with everything else, and "Keep the dates" leaves those two fields in place for record-keeping. When you press "Remove metadata", the tool reads the file's properties block and the result line lists what it found, value included: a cover letter saved from Word typically shows something like removed: Author "Jane Smith", Creating application "Microsoft Word", Creation date, Modification date. If an XMP packet written by Acrobat, InDesign or a newer Office version is present, the line adds XMP packet removed. The downloaded file has -temiz.pdf added to its name; its pages, fonts, form fields and images are byte-for-byte the same and only the properties block is gone. If the file carries no metadata at all, the result line says so and the file is returned unchanged. To confirm, open the downloaded PDF and look at File › Properties: the Author and Title fields should be empty.

This tool is also known as remove pdf metadata, remove author from pdf, delete pdf properties, pdf metadata remover, strip pdf metadata, remove title from pdf, clear pdf document properties.

What is PDF metadata (Info dictionary)?

Every PDF carries a small properties block that lives apart from the pages; the PDF standard calls it the Info dictionary. The Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator (the application that made the document), Producer (the PDF engine that wrote it), CreationDate and ModDate fields all sit there, and they are what Acrobat, Chrome or Preview show under Properties. Word, Excel, Google Docs and scanner software fill these fields without asking: the Author field gets the name on your Windows account or Microsoft 365 license, the Creator field the program and version. The block travels with the file to everyone who receives it; this tool removes the block entirely, or leaves only the two date fields if you ask it to.

What is XMP packet?

XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) is a second copy of the metadata that Adobe defined as an XML packet embedded inside the PDF; Acrobat, InDesign, Photoshop and some Office versions write it alongside the Info dictionary. Besides author, title and dates, it can hold the document ID, how many times the file was saved and in which program version, and sometimes an edit history. It does not appear in the Properties window, so most people never know it is there, and a tool that clears only the Info dictionary leaves the packet untouched with your name still inside. This tool unlinks the packet from the document catalog and drops its object from the file.

What is the difference between PDF metadata and EXIF data in a photo?

Both are hidden information stored apart from what you see, but they live in different files and describe different things. EXIF belongs to photo files (JPG, HEIC): camera model, time the shot was taken, GPS coordinates, lens settings. PDF metadata belongs to a document: author name, title, which program and version made it, creation and modification dates; it carries no location. Photos placed inside a PDF usually lose their EXIF when the PDF is generated, so an EXIF tool is no use on a PDF. Use the EXIF removal page on this site when you share a photo on its own, and this page when you share a document. Neither tool changes the visible content of the file.

What is removed, and what stays exactly as it was?

Removed: every field in the Info dictionary (Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, the two dates and any custom fields an application added), the XMP packet in the document catalog, and the private data block that Adobe applications leave behind (PieceInfo). These are not just blanked: their objects are dropped from the file when it is rewritten, because a field that only looks empty would still be readable inside the file with a text editor. The engine that saves the cleaned file does not write its own name either, so the Producer field of the result is empty.

Kept: the page content and any name that appears in the page text, signature fields, values typed into form fields, comments and sticky notes (they have an author field of their own, but they are part of the document), attached files, bookmarks and the names of embedded fonts. The name at the top of a contract is page text; the program that produced the document changes that, not this tool. If comments must go as well, the only certain route is to convert the PDF to images and back to PDF, at the cost of selectable text.

When should you keep the dates, and when remove them?

When a document goes to someone outside (a job application, a quote, a bid, a letter to a landlord or a court), removing all metadata is the right default. The Author field often carries not the writer's name but the name the license or Windows account is registered to; the Creator field reveals which program and version you used; the modification date shows the document was edited at the last minute. None of that helps the recipient, and all of it invites misreading.

Keeping the dates makes sense for archives and records: document management systems sort by creation date, and some organizations require the date of a scanned record to remain in the file properties. The "Keep the dates" option leaves only CreationDate and ModDate and still removes the name and application fields; the result line adds "dates kept" so you can see it took effect. Note that the created and modified dates your operating system shows for the file are a different thing: they belong to the file system, not the PDF, and the file you download gets today's date.

Frequently asked questions

How do I see who the author of a PDF is?

Open the PDF in Chrome or Edge and choose Document properties from the menu at the top right; in Acrobat Reader use File › Properties, in macOS Preview use Tools › Show Inspector. The Author, Title, Creator and Producer fields are listed there. This tool lists the same fields, with their values, in the result line the moment you clean the file, so you do not need another program to see what was removed.

Is the information really gone, or just hidden?

Gone. The tool removes the Info dictionary and the XMP packet from the document and rewrites the file; the old objects are not carried into the new one. To check, open the cleaned file in a text editor and search for your name: if it is not part of the page text, it is not anywhere. One distinction matters: a name that Word placed in a header or a signature line is page content, not metadata, and has to be changed in the program that produced the document.

Why does my name show up in a PDF I saved from Word?

When Word saves to PDF it copies the document's Author property (the name of the account signed in to Office) and Title property (often the first line of the text) into the PDF, and writes "Microsoft Word" with its version into the Creator field. LibreOffice, Google Docs and scanner software do the same. In Word you can clear these under File › Info, but if all you have is the PDF, this tool does the same job and removes the XMP packet as well.

Is my file uploaded anywhere?

No. Your PDF never leaves your device: reading the properties block, removing it and rewriting the file all happen inside your browser, with no server involved. The whole point of removing metadata is to stop personal details from spreading; uploading the file to a server to do it would defeat that. Once the page has loaded, the tool works even with the internet disconnected.