Clean hidden data
Strip metadata, scripts and comments, or set the title and author. Nothing is uploaded: the work happens on this device.
About Clean hidden data
Strips what a PDF carries besides its pages: the title, author, the program that made it, dates and hidden XMP data, and on request scripts, comments and attached files. Or set new details instead. The pages are not touched.
How to use it
- Add one or more PDFs.
- Choose Clean everything hidden, Remove the hidden details, or Set new details.
- Untick Comments and notes too, or Attached files too, if you want to keep them.
- Press Clean it and save the cleaned copy, then send that one.
Good to know
A PDF often records the name set on the computer that made it, the program and its version, and when it was made and changed, sometimes twice over in hidden XMP data. Comments from earlier drafts and files attached inside can travel along too, unseen by anyone who only reads the pages.
Clean everything hidden is the one to use before a file leaves your hands: it removes the details and XMP data, any scripts and actions that run when the file opens, and by default comments and attached files. The result lists what it found and removed, so you know what the file was carrying.
Set new details writes a proper title, author, subject and keywords instead, which some portals and libraries show; leave a box empty to remove that detail. The pages, their words and their look stay as they are, and a locked PDF stays locked with the same password.
Questions people ask
What should I choose before sending a file outside?
Clean everything hidden. See remove PDF metadata.
Does it remove names printed on the page?
No. Use Remove areas for those.
Does it change the file name?
No. The name is not inside the file; rename the saved copy yourself if it gives something away.
Is my file uploaded?
No. It is cleaned in your browser, so the details you are removing are never sent anywhere either.