- Info dictionary properties such as Author, Creator and Producer
- Title, subject, keywords and dates
- XMP Metadata streams and PieceInfo
- Original trailer file identifiers
- Old incremental revisions through full rewrite
PDF METADATA REMOVER
Remove metadata from a PDF
A PDF can retain author names, software, dates, titles, XMP packets and older incremental revisions. KillMetadata uses a full structural rewrite, not a string replacement, and reopens the result before offering it for download.
THE CLEANING PLAN
Remove what exposes you. Keep what makes the file work.
Every field is shown before the rewrite and classified by action and coverage.
- Rendered pages and page order
- Text, images, fonts and annotations
- Navigation and document structure needed to open the PDF
- Attachments or JavaScript as reported content, not ordinary metadata
- Redaction of visible text or images
- Removal of attachments or active content
- Optical character recognition
- Password-protected or encrypted PDFs
- Object-stream PDFs in the current bounded preview
WHY THE ENGINE MATTERS
The PDF is rebuilt and then parsed again
PDF metadata can be stored in indirect objects, compressed object streams, an Info dictionary, XMP streams, or private dictionaries. The current bounded preview rejects object-stream PDFs before qpdf starts. For accepted PDFs, the browser engine removes supported metadata references, replaces original IDs, and writes a new file with no previous incremental chain.
A separate worker checks that the output is structurally readable and that supported Info, Metadata and PieceInfo carriers are absent. Signed PDFs are rejected because any full rewrite would invalidate the existing byte-range signature.
Explore the complete verification methodology →BEFORE YOU SHARE
A four-step privacy check.
Metadata cleaning is one part of a safe sharing workflow.
- 01Check for signature, encryption, attachment and JavaScript warnings
- 02Review Info and XMP fields scheduled for removal
- 03Create the full-rewrite copy
- 04Open the verified output and visually inspect every page
QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
Know the boundary before you clean.
No vague “100% clean” claim.
Are my files uploaded?
No. The cleaner runs in your browser, has no upload endpoint, and only enables the file picker after its processor assets are available locally.
Is the original file changed?
No. KillMetadata reads the original and creates a separately named cleaned copy. It never overwrites the source file.
Is removing PDF metadata the same as redaction?
No. Metadata cleanup does not cover visible text, hidden text used for OCR, page images, annotations or information embedded in the document content.
Why use a full PDF rewrite?
Incremental PDFs can retain earlier objects after a visible metadata update. A full rewrite prevents old revisions from remaining at the end of the file.
Can I clean a signed PDF?
Not in the current build. A full rewrite would invalidate the existing byte-range signature, so signed PDFs are rejected before cleaning.
Runs locally in your browserReady to inspect your file?
Inspect this file type The picker opens only after offline protection is active.