Document privacy
Check PDF Metadata
Check PDF metadata before sharing a document — most PDFs quietly embed the author's name, the exact software used to create them, and creation and edit timestamps in a document info dictionary.
Drop a file here, click to browse, or paste
What's inside a PDF's metadata
Every PDF has the potential to carry two layers of metadata: a classic document info dictionary (the older, simpler format supported by every PDF reader) and an optional XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) stream, which is an XML-based format Adobe introduced to carry richer, more structured metadata. Both can include the title, author, subject, and keywords a user typed in, plus fields the authoring software fills in automatically — most notably the Producer field, which usually names the exact library or application version used to generate the file.
This is why a PDF exported from a company template, a legal contract, or an academic paper can end up revealing more than intended: an internal author name that should have stayed private, the specific version of accounting or legal software a firm uses internally, or a creation date that contradicts a document's claimed timeline.
How Metapeek reads it
Drop your PDF into the tool above and Metapeek parses the document info dictionary and any XMP stream using pdf.js, the same open-source PDF engine that powers Firefox's built-in PDF viewer, running entirely inside your browser tab. The parsed fields are grouped into a readable table, with the full raw object available as a JSON export if you need it for a report or investigation.
If you decide the metadata reveals something you'd rather not share, use the "Remove all metadata" button to download a cleaned copy — the document's pages, text, and formatting are untouched, only the info dictionary fields are cleared. As with every tool on this site, none of this requires uploading the PDF anywhere; the parsing library and the file both stay local to your browser tab for the entire process.
Frequently asked questions
Most PDFs carry a document info dictionary with fields like Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator (the authoring application), Producer (the tool that generated the PDF file itself), and creation/modification dates. Many also embed a separate XMP metadata stream with overlapping or additional fields.