Tools Clean PDF metadata
Remove PDF metadata — without uploading it anywhere
Every PDF quietly carries an author name, the software that made it, and timestamps of every edit. PDF Guard strips all of it before you share. Your file never leaves this tab.
Drop your PDF here
It opens right here in the tab — 0 bytes uploaded.
Free. No sign-up. No daily limits.
Opened locally — 0 bytes uploaded
How to remove metadata from a PDF
Three steps, all inside your browser tab. Works with Wi-Fi off.
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Open your PDF
Drop it above or click Choose PDF. The file renders right here — nothing is sent anywhere.
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See what's hiding
PDF Guard lists every metadata field it finds — author, creating app, dates, title, keywords — so you know exactly what would have traveled with the file.
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Download the clean copy
One click wipes the fields and rewrites the file. The pages look identical; the original on your disk stays untouched.
Your PDF says more than what's on the page
Word, Acrobat, and most exporters stamp every PDF with hidden properties: an author field that is often your full name or company login, the exact app and version that produced it, and creation and modification timestamps that show when you really wrote that "final" version. Anyone you send the file to can read all of it in seconds via File → Properties. PDF Guard deletes those fields and rewrites the file.
- Document Info fields — Author, Title, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer — are wiped
- The XMP metadata packet — tool versions, document IDs, edit timestamps — is removed too
- The visible pages stay exactly as they are — only the invisible data goes
Before cleaning
Author: dana.cohen
Producer: Word for Microsoft 365
Created: 03:12, two days after "sent Monday"
Properties reveal who wrote it, with what, and when
After PDF Guard
Author: —
Producer: —
Created: —
Properties come back empty — nothing left to read
Check any PDF yourself: open File → Properties in your reader. Those fields travel with every copy you share. Cleaning removes what's hidden; redaction removes what's visible — sensitive files usually need both.
Privacy you can check, not just believe
A tool that strips identifying data shouldn't collect it first. The architecture makes uploading impossible — and you can verify that in under a minute.
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Turn off Wi-Fi
Open a PDF, then go offline. Inspect, clean, download — everything keeps working, because the app is already in your tab.
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Watch the network tab
Open DevTools → Network and clean a file. You'll see 0 requests containing your document.
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Nothing to breach
No upload queue, no server copy, no "deleted after 2 hours" promise. There is no server that ever holds your file.
Frequently asked questions
What metadata does a PDF actually contain?
Two layers. The Document Info dictionary holds Author, Title, Subject, Keywords, Creator, and Producer — the author is frequently your real name or OS account, and the title is often an old draft name like "contract_v3_FINAL_lawyer_edits". The XMP packet adds tool versions, document IDs, and creation and modification timestamps. Any PDF reader can show all of it.
Does cleaning metadata change how the PDF looks?
No. Metadata lives outside the page content, so the pages render exactly as before — same text, layout, fonts, and images. PDF Guard also writes the cleaned version as a new copy, so the original file on your disk is never modified.
Is cleaning metadata enough before sharing a sensitive file?
It handles the invisible layer, not the visible one. If a name or account number appears on the page itself, cleaning metadata won't touch it — use Redact PDF for that, then clean the metadata on the same open file. Since the document is already in your tab, chaining the two tools costs nothing and re-uploads nothing.
How much does it cost?
Cleaning metadata is part of the free tier: Free. No sign-up. No daily limits. Free covers documents up to 20 pages; Pro ($10/yr) lifts the page cap and adds advanced tools — and you'll always see what's Pro before you start a file, never after your work is done.
More tools, same rule: local only
Your file is already open — chaining tools is free, because nothing re-uploads.