Remove metadata from a PDF file and see what it was hiding.

Drop the PDF file onto the box on this page. The page lists what it finds, such as the author, the program that made the file, the dates, comments and the location stored in photos. Press Remove hidden details, then Download. The work happens inside your browser tab, so the file is not uploaded anywhere.

No, and the difference matters. Redacting means taking words that are visible on a page, such as a name or an account number, and removing them for real, not only covering them with a black box. Hidden details are things that are not on the page at all: who made the file, which program saved it, when it was changed, who wrote a comment. A file can be properly redacted and still say who wrote it, and a file can have no hidden details and still show a name in the middle of a page. Before sharing a sensitive document, do both. UtilForge has Redaction Studio for the first job, Is It Really Blacked Out? and Release Check to test it, and this tool for the second.

The document details (title, author, subject, keywords, the program that made it and the dates), the second copy of those details that many programs keep (called XMP, short for Extensible Metadata Platform), comments, notes and highlights, files attached to the PDF file, small programs (scripts) that run when it opens, private data that the authoring program left behind, page thumbnails, older saved versions that were still inside the file, and the location, camera and date stored inside embedded photos.

Anything that is part of the pages themselves. A name typed in the text, a header or footer, a watermark, a signature picture, a face in a photo and the shape of a letterhead all stay, because they are the document. Typed answers in form fields stay too. The names of the fonts used also stay. If the page itself holds something private, use Redaction Studio. A file that carries a digital signature stops being valid after any change, so clean the unsigned draft, not the signed copy.

Yes. The pages are not turned into pictures, so the text stays selectable and searchable and the file does not get blurry. During testing, the text and the page pictures of cleaned files matched the originals exactly. The one visible change is that comments and notes are removed when that box is ticked. You can check your own file by opening both copies side by side.

Keep bookmarks, links and form fields cleans the file where it stands, then throws away every part of the file that nothing points to any more, which is where old versions and leftovers hide. Use it for reports, forms and anything with a contents list. Rebuild the file copies the pages into a brand-new file, so nothing from the old file structure can come along. It is the strongest, but it drops bookmarks and links to other pages, and form fields stop being fillable. If you are sending a file to someone you do not trust, use Rebuild.

Drop the cleaned copy back into this page. It should report no hidden details. You can also open the file in your own PDF viewer and look at its properties (in Adobe Acrobat Reader choose File, then Properties; on a Mac open the file in Preview and choose Tools, then Show Inspector). UtilForge Release Check is a second opinion that looks at a file the way a reader would.

No. The page reads the file into the memory of your browser tab and does the work there. The page carries a security setting (a Content Security Policy, a rule the browser enforces) that forbids it from sending anything out. To test it, open the page, switch the wifi off, choose a PDF file and clean it. It carries on working, because the page and its PDF file library are already on your device.

Programs add them to be helpful. Word processors, scanners, phone apps and online converters write the author's name, the program name and the dates so that files can be searched and sorted. Reviewers' comments keep the reviewer's name. Photos keep the camera model and, on many phones, the exact place the picture was taken. Most of the time that is harmless. It becomes a problem when a file goes to someone who should not learn who wrote it, when it was really made, or where.

No, by design. If you have the right to open the file, unlock it in your usual viewer, save an unlocked copy, and clean that copy here.

UtilForge makes it. UtilForge is a website of free cybersecurity tools and small calculators. The About page explains why the tools were made, and the Contact page is the way to reach us.

A person does not have to take UtilForge's word for it, so here are things to check. This page does not ask for payment, an account or card details. The tool itself is free. UtilForge also sells optional packs of tools separately, on Gumroad, and this tool works without them. The page carries a security setting that forbids it from sending anything out, so your PDF file cannot be uploaded from here, and you can test that with the wifi off.

Nothing is kept. While the page is open, your PDF file and the cleaned copy sit in the memory of the browser tab. The page does not use cookies, local storage, session storage or IndexedDB (the browser's built-in database), and it puts nothing about your file in the page address. Closing the tab, or pressing Reset, drops the copies from memory. The one thing that stays is a file you save yourself: pressing Download saves a new file named after the original with -cleaned added, for example report-cleaned.pdf. Your original file is never changed.

No. The tool is free, and you can start straight away. UtilForge also sells optional packs separately, such as Redaction Studio ($29 to own) and Family Safety Tools (pay what you want, including nothing). This tool does not need either.