How to anonymise a pdf document by removing all metadata
- Step 1First redact visible PII — Run the document through the PII Redactor to remove names, emails, and other visible identifiers.
- Step 2Upload the redacted PDF to the metadata scrubber — Drop the redacted document into the scrubber.
- Step 3Scrub all metadata fields — Enable all fields for removal to produce a fully anonymised PDF.
- Step 4Verify and archive or share — Check the Document Properties to confirm all fields are blank before sharing.
Frequently asked questions
Is a metadata-scrubbed PDF completely anonymous?+
Metadata scrubbing removes document property fields. Content analysis of the PDF's visual layer is the other anonymisation dimension — covered by PII Redaction.
What about revision history embedded in the PDF?+
Linear PDFs do not retain revision history. Incremental-update PDFs may contain historical content layers — flattening the PDF before scrubbing removes those layers.
Should I flatten before scrubbing?+
Yes — flatten the PDF first (to remove form fields and incremental layers), then scrub metadata for the most thorough anonymisation.
Privacy first
All PDF processing runs locally in your browser using PDF-lib and pdf.js. No file is ever uploaded — only metadata counters are saved for signed-in dashboard stats.