See the metadata in a PDF
Author, software, dates and hidden XMP, read on your device.
- Nothing is uploaded
- Works offline after first visit
- Open source
- No watermark · limit is your device’s memory; phones hold less
See who wrote a PDF, which program made it and when, plus any XMP metadata, right in your browser. It is free, needs no account and adds no watermark, and your files are not uploaded: everything runs in your browser on your device. The size limit is your device’s memory, and phones hold less; give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, and then it works offline.
Done
Open the network tab. Your files never appear in it.
Add files and run the tool to see every request this tab makes.
Your files are processed on this device and never sent to a server. Reload the page to clear everything from memory.
Every PDF has a properties panel most people never open. It usually names the author, often the full name from the Word or Pages licence or the user account of the computer it was made on, and records which program created the document and which one turned it into a PDF, with version numbers and the exact dates it was created and last saved. Many files repeat all of it in an XMP packet, which some apps extend with editing history.
Drop a PDF here and that information is listed straight away, read by code running in your browser. It is useful for checking a document before you send it, for seeing whether a CV, a quote or a leaked memo was really written by who it claims, and for finding out which scanner or app produced a file.
If you do not want the metadata to travel with the file, press Remove metadata. You get a copy with the same name, the same pages and text, and none of the hidden fields. The original file on your device is not changed, and nothing is uploaded at any point.
How it works
- Drop one or more PDFs. The author, software, dates, XMP and file ID of each are listed at once.
- Read the list. Nothing has been changed yet.
- To send a clean copy, press Remove metadata and download it.
In your browser, not on a server
pdf-lib (MIT) parses the PDF in your tab (an encrypted file is first decrypted by qpdf, compiled to WebAssembly and served from this site). The trailer’s information dictionary and file ID are dropped, every /Metadata XMP stream and /PieceInfo entry is unlinked from the catalog, pages, images and fonts, and every object nothing refers to any more is deleted before the file is written back out, so the removed data is really gone rather than just hidden.
Compared with upload-based tools: The PDFs people clean before sharing are the ones where the author matters: CVs, legal filings, reports sent anonymously, documents for a client who should not see who drafted them. Uploading them to a metadata-removal site hands the full document, name included, to a stranger. Here your files are not uploaded.
Verify it yourself. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, then turn off Wi-Fi or switch to airplane mode and run the tool again. Or open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Cmd-Option-I on a Mac), pick the Network tab, and watch it while you convert. The panel above does the same count for you.
Questions
Can the metadata prove who wrote a PDF?
It is a clue, not proof. The author field is whatever the creating app filled in, usually the name on the account or licence, and anyone can edit it. Dates come from the clock of the computer that saved the file. Treat mismatches as questions to ask, not answers.
Why does my PDF show a name I do not recognise?
Word and other apps copy the author from the template or from the file the document started as. If you reused an old document or a company template, the original author’s name can still be in it, which is a good reason to check before you send.
What do Created with and Made into PDF by mean?
Created with (the Creator field) is the program the document was written in, such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Made into PDF by (the Producer field) is the software that wrote the PDF itself, such as macOS Quartz, Adobe PDF Library or a scanner’s firmware.
Does it show metadata of images inside the PDF?
It counts XMP packets attached to images and pages, and removes them. The EXIF data inside embedded photos is not listed; if that matters, clean the photos with the remove EXIF tool before placing them in the document.
Is the file uploaded anywhere?
No. There is no server in this process. The page is a static file and the work is done by code running inside your browser tab. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use; then you can turn off Wi-Fi and it still works.
More PDF tools
Remove PDF metadata
See the name, software and dates hidden in a PDF, and strip them before it goes out.
Rotate PDF
Fix sideways scans for good. Rotate every page or just the ones you pick, then save.
Unlock PDF
Remove the open password and the print, copy and edit restrictions from a PDF whose password you know.
Protect PDF
Lock a PDF with a password and AES-256 encryption, without uploading the file you are trying to keep private.
Other conversions
Guides
- How to remove metadata from a PDFA PDF often says who made it, with what, and when, without showing any of it on the page. Here is how to see it and remove it before you share the file.