A PDF carries more than its pages. Most PDFs also hold the author's name, the program that made the file, when it was created and last edited, and sometimes a trail of editing history. A PDF exported from Word often lists your Windows or Office account name as the author, and most people never notice.

This guide explains what is hidden in a PDF, the common ways to remove it, and one trap: some methods only hide the old details, and they can be brought back.

What hidden details a PDF can carry

  • Author name. Often filled in automatically from your computer or Office account.
  • Title, subject and keywords, sometimes left over from an old template.
  • Creator and producer. The app that made the document (Word, InDesign, Google Docs) and the one that turned it into a PDF.
  • Created and modified dates, down to the second, often with your time zone.
  • Editing history and document IDs. Hidden XMP data can hold a history of saves, the apps used, and IDs that link this file to earlier versions.
  • Photos inside the PDF with their own metadata. A photo placed in a document can bring its camera details and GPS location along with it.
  • Digital signatures. A signed PDF records the signer's name, certificate and signing time.
  • AI content labels (C2PA). Some tools, such as Adobe Express and Firefly, attach Content Credentials to the PDF and to the images inside it.
  • Attached files. A PDF can carry other files inside it.

How to see a PDF's metadata

  • Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader: File → Properties → Description. This shows the basic fields (title, author, dates, software), but not the XMP history or the photos inside.
  • Mac Preview: Tools → Show Inspector, then the info tab.
  • Chrome or Edge: open the PDF, then the menu → Document properties.
  • A full check: drop the file on our PDF metadata page. Signed out, it reads the PDF in your browser, without uploading it, and lists what it finds, including signatures, AI labels and photo details.

Ways to remove metadata from a PDF

1. Remove it at the source (Word)

If you make the PDF from Word, clean the Word document first: File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document, then remove Document Properties and Personal Information. The PDF you export afterwards starts with less to leak. It will still carry a new creator, producer and dates.

2. Adobe Acrobat Pro

Acrobat Pro has two tools for this: Remove Hidden Information and Sanitize Document (in the Redact tools). Sanitize removes metadata, hidden text, attachments and more in one go. They work well but need the paid version, and the free Acrobat Reader can't do it.

Editing the author field in File → Properties is not the same thing. It changes what the properties box shows, but the hidden XMP copy of the details can stay behind.

3. Mac Preview

Preview can't edit or remove the author. Printing the PDF to a new PDF (File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF) rebuilds the file and can drop the old details. It can also flatten or lose links, bookmarks and form fields, and it stamps in its own software name and a new date.

4. ExifTool, and why it isn't enough on its own

ExifTool is the standard command-line metadata tool, and exiftool -all:all= file.pdf looks like it removes everything. For PDFs it doesn't, and ExifTool says so itself. It warns that its PDF edits are reversible.

Here's why. ExifTool doesn't rewrite the PDF. It adds a small update to the end of the file that says "these fields are now empty". The old author name, dates and XMP are still in the file, just above the update. We tested it: after exiftool -all:all=, the original author name was still inside the file, and ExifTool's own undo command brought it straight back.

To make it stick, the PDF has to be rewritten afterwards. ExifTool's documentation suggests qpdf for this:

exiftool -all:all= file.pdf
qpdf --linearize file.pdf clean.pdf

Even then, two things are left: the photos inside the PDF keep their own metadata (camera, GPS), and AI Content Credentials survive, because in a PDF they are stored as an attached file, not as a metadata field.

5. Online PDF metadata removers

Many free sites offer to "remove PDF metadata". Before you use one, check two things. Does it remove the XMP data and the details inside photos, or only the basic fields? And what does it do with your file afterwards?

The one-step way

Our PDF metadata remover rewrites the whole file, so nothing old is left hiding at the end. It:

  1. Removes the author, title, subject, keywords, creator, producer, created and modified dates, XMP editing history and document IDs.
  2. Strips the metadata from photos inside the PDF: camera details, GPS and hidden XMP. The photos themselves are not re-compressed.
  3. Removes AI Content Credentials (C2PA), both the attached manifest and the ones on individual images.
  4. Removes digital signatures by default, since any edit breaks a signature anyway. If you need the signature kept, there's an option for that.
  5. Checks the result. The clean file is opened again: same number of pages, every part readable, and none of the details above left anywhere.

Other attached files are kept. Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection to our server in Germany. The original is deleted as soon as it's cleaned, and the clean copy after its one download (or after 15 minutes).

When cleaning a PDF matters

  • Job applications. A résumé can carry your old employer's template name or a previous version's title.
  • Anonymous or blind review. Journals and competitions often need files with no author trace at all.
  • Legal and business documents sent outside your organisation, where the software, dates and history may reveal more than intended.
  • Selling templates, e-books or printables, where your personal name or AI tool details shouldn't ride along.

Frequently asked questions

Does changing the author in File → Properties remove it?

Not fully. It changes the basic field that the properties box shows, but PDFs also keep a hidden XMP copy of the same details, which can still hold the old name. Removing both needs a tool that rewrites the file.

Can removed PDF metadata be recovered?

It depends on how it was removed. Tools that add an update to the end of the file, like ExifTool on its own, leave the old details in place, and they can be restored. A tool that rewrites the whole file leaves nothing to recover.

Does removing metadata change how the PDF looks?

No. Our cleaner keeps the pages, text, fonts and images as they are. The one visible difference is on signed PDFs, where the signature is removed unless you choose to keep it.

Can I remove metadata from a PDF without Adobe Acrobat?

Yes. You can use our PDF metadata remover in any browser, or ExifTool followed by qpdf on the command line. Word users can also clean the document with Inspect Document before exporting.

Does a PDF show who created it?

Often, yes. The author field is filled in automatically by Word and many other programs, usually with your account or computer name. Check File → Properties in any PDF reader to see what yours says.

Is it free?

A free account can clean 3 PDFs, videos or RAW photos a month. Without an account, you can still see what your PDF carries, read in your browser without uploading it.