Clearing the visible fields is not the whole job. A PDF can carry a second, separate metadata block called XMP that duplicates the author, software and revision history entirely independent of the classic fields below. This tool checks for it and tells you plainly if it is there — most "remove metadata" tools never mention it exists.

Nothing is uploaded and there is no limit — no daily cap, no account. The file is read by this tab and the cleaned copy is written by it.

PDF Metadata Viewer & Remover

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Choose a PDF, or drop it here Nothing leaves this tab

Read and written by pdf-lib, fetched the moment you choose a file.

What lives inside a PDF that you cannot see

Every PDF carries an Info dictionary — eight small fields that describe the document rather than its content. None of them show up on the page, and most PDF readers surface them under "Document Properties" or "File Info" without anyone looking there:

Field	What it usually reveals
Title	Often set automatically from the filename or the first heading — not always what you would choose
Author	Frequently your real name or the account name on the computer that created the file, not what you typed anywhere in the document
Subject, Keywords	Rarely set by hand; when present, usually inherited from a template
Creator	The application that produced the content — Word, InDesign, a scanner's own software
Producer	The library or engine that wrote the PDF file itself, which can name internal tools a company would rather not disclose
Creation date, Modification date	The real dates the file was made and last changed — which can contradict a claimed timeline

None of this is hidden on purpose. It is simply not part of what a reader sees, which is exactly why it survives long after the visible content has been proofread and approved.

The metadata most tools do not check

The eight fields above live in what PDF calls the Info dictionary, a format going back to the earliest version of PDF. A separate, newer system called XMP — Extensible Metadata Platform, an Adobe standard now used across PDF, JPEG, TIFF and other formats — can carry the same kind of information again, embedded as a block of XML inside the file:

The two systems exist independently in the PDF specification. A tool that only touches one is not lying, exactly — but it is not the whole story either.

Detecting XMP does not mean removing it. Reliably deleting an XMP block needs direct access to the PDF's internal object structure, which was not something this tool's testing could verify without live access to real files. Rather than claim a removal that might silently fail, this tool reports the block's presence and stops there — a plain warning is more useful than a confident-looking fix that cannot be checked.

What "clearing" a date actually does

Text fields — title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer — can be set to nothing. Dates cannot be deleted the same way; the file format expects either a valid date or no field at all, and the tool this runs on can only write a valid one. Clearing a date here replaces it with the moment you download the file:

Field	What "clear" means here
Text fields	Set to an empty value — genuinely blank, nothing left to find
Creation date	Overwritten with today's date. The original date — usually the actual privacy concern — is gone, replaced by a vague, present-moment stamp
Modification date	Same treatment; every save naturally sets this anyway, in this tool and most others

Compared with the alternatives

Tool	File goes	Per-field control	Mentions XMP
This page	Nowhere	Yes, tick any field	Detects and discloses it
PDF24	Their servers	All-or-nothing	No
Most "metadata remover" sites checked	Mixed, several claim local	Usually all-or-nothing	Not mentioned

Several tools genuinely process locally and show the standard fields clearly — that part of the landscape is not thin. What was consistently missing across everything checked was any mention of XMP as a second, independent place the same information can live.

Common mistakes

Assuming a cleared file has no identifying information left. If the XMP warning appears, the same author name or software string this tool just cleared from the Info dictionary may still be sitting in the XMP block. Check the warning before treating the file as anonymous.

Expecting the creation date to disappear entirely. It cannot be deleted, only overwritten — which this tool does with today's date. That is usually enough to remove the concern (an original timestamp that contradicts a claimed timeline), but the field itself never becomes literally empty the way a text field does.

Uploading a document to check what it reveals about you. The whole point of checking metadata is often to protect privacy before sharing something sensitive — a leaked draft, a contract, an identity document. Posting it to a server to find that out first defeats the purpose.

Frequently asked questions

Is my file uploaded anywhere?

No. The file is read and the cleaned copy is written entirely in your browser — you can confirm this in the network panel of your browser's developer tools, which shows no request carrying your document.

What is XMP metadata, and why does it matter?

It is a separate metadata system, an Adobe standard used across PDF and other formats, that embeds an XML block inside the file. It can carry the same author, creation date and software information as the classic fields above — independently, so clearing one does not clear the other. This tool checks whether an XMP block is present and tells you, rather than staying silent about it.

Why does this tool detect XMP but not remove it?

Removing it safely needs direct access to the PDF's internal object structure, which could not be verified working against real files during testing. A warning that is always accurate is more useful than a removal feature that might silently fail on some files — so this tool tells you it is there and stops.

Can I clear just one or two fields instead of everything?

Yes — tick only the fields you want cleared. Most metadata removers are all-or-nothing; here you might keep the Title for your own reference and clear only Author and Producer, for example.

Can a date field be made completely empty?

No — a PDF date field holds a valid date or nothing at all, and this tool can only write a valid one. "Clearing" a date replaces it with the moment you download the file, which removes the original timestamp — usually the actual concern — without the field becoming literally blank the way text does.

Will this change how the document looks?

No. Metadata is entirely separate from the page content — text, images and layout are untouched. Only the document properties most readers hide under "File Info" or "Document Properties" are affected.

Does this affect digital signatures?

A signed document should not be run through this or any tool that rewrites the file — a signature certifies a specific set of bytes, and any change, including a metadata edit, invalidates it. Clear metadata before signing, not after.

Is there a file size or page limit?

No. Nothing runs on a server, so there is nothing to ration. The practical ceiling is your own machine's memory.

Can I check a password-protected PDF?

Not while it is protected — remove the password in a PDF reader first. The cleaned output is not encrypted, so protect it again afterwards if the original was.

Related tools

See the full list of Document Tools, or try:

Merge PDF — also reorders and excludes pages, keeps the first file's Title and Author
Split PDF — carries the source document's metadata into each piece
Compress PDF — shrink a file that still needs to be smaller after cleaning
Add Page Numbers to PDF — number the cleaned copy before sending it on
Rotate PDF — fix a sideways scan before or after clearing its metadata

PDF Metadata Viewer & Remover Free, No Upload