Orpheus

Remove PDF Metadata

Strip the author, software and dates a PDF carries.

Every tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.

Every PDF stores a title, author, subject, keywords, the software that made it, and creation and modification dates. Removing them clears the document properties any reader displays.

How to use Remove PDF Metadata

  1. Add your PDF. Drag it in or click to browse.
  2. Choose remove or replace. Removing clears every field; replacing lets you set your own.
  3. Download the cleaned file. Check the result in your reader's document properties.

About removing metadata from a PDF

Every PDF carries a document information dictionary alongside its pages, holding a title, author, subject, keywords, the producing software and two timestamps. Almost none of it is entered deliberately. The author field is typically populated from the operating system account name, which is frequently a real full name; the producer field names the exact application and version used; and the timestamps record when the file was created and last touched. A document written anonymously and exported without thought will often name its writer in the first field a reader inspects. Seeing it takes no special tooling — document properties in any PDF reader displays the lot, and it is worth making a habit of checking before sending anything externally. That is also why removing it matters more for some documents than others: a CV, a legal submission, a leaked report and a tender response all carry information in these fields that the sender may assume is private. What clearing the dictionary does not do is worth being equally clear about. It does not touch content on the page, which means text hidden under an image or behind a drawn rectangle remains fully present and selectable — the classic redaction failure, and one that has embarrassed governments and law firms repeatedly. It does not remove embedded attachments, and it does not necessarily clear an XMP metadata packet written separately by the producing application. Removing metadata is one layer of a document review, not the whole of it.

Frequently asked questions

What does a PDF actually store about me?
Usually a title, author, subject and keywords, plus the producing software and creation and modification timestamps. The author field is commonly filled from your operating system account name, and the producer names the exact application and version — both frequently more revealing than the document itself.
Does this remove everything?
It clears the standard document information fields. It does not touch text hidden by an image, content behind a black rectangle, embedded file attachments, or an XMP packet a producing application may have written separately. For a document where disclosure genuinely matters, check the content as well as the properties.
Why are the dates set to 1970 rather than removed?
Because the creation and modification dates cannot be absent from a PDF — they can only be overwritten. The Unix epoch is used deliberately: it is obviously not a real date, which is more honest than substituting today and implying the file was made now.
Is redaction the same as removing metadata?
No, and conflating them is dangerous. Metadata is document properties. Redaction is removing content from the page itself, and drawing a black box over text does not remove it — the text is still selectable underneath. This tool does the first and not the second.
Does my file leave my device?
No. The PDF is read and rewritten in your browser and nothing is transmitted, which is the only sensible arrangement for a tool whose purpose is removing information you do not want shared.

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