The Info dictionary is not the page
PDF viewers and some email clients show Title, Author, Creator, and Producer from the file’s Info (and related XMP). You can redact a name on page 1 and still ship Author: Jane Doe. That is the usual resume and invoice leak.
Incremental saves and leftover objects
Some PDFs grow by appending changes. Deleted paragraphs or old prices can remain in unused objects. Rewriting the document is different from clearing the title field in a properties dialog. ScrubFiles rebuilds; it is not a forensic guarantee against every PDF trick.
Why this is not Adobe Acrobat
Acrobat can sanitize PDFs on the desktop. This page is for people who do not want to install Acrobat or upload to an online “PDF metadata remover.” The homepage tool never receives the file. For scripts, the API is documented separately and is not the free drop zone.
How to see PDF metadata
01
Export to PDF if needed
Word and Excel are not accepted. Export PDF, then drop that file. Encrypted PDFs must be unlocked first.
02
Read Author and leftovers
If Author, Creator, or Producer is set, you will see the values. Hidden prior edits are listed when we can detect them.
03
Send the rewrite
Download the rebuilt PDF. Visible text on the page (your company name, invoice totals) is not removed unless you edit the source.
Questions
Is PDF metadata the same as EXIF?
No. EXIF is an image-file convention. PDFs use document Info/XMP and can keep older objects. ScrubFiles handles both types of file on the same drop zone.
Can a client see my laptop account name on an invoice?
Often yes, via Author or Creator, even when the invoice layout only shows the business name. That is what sanitizing the PDF is for.
Does printing to PDF strip metadata?
Sometimes it writes a new Producer and still includes an author. Do not assume print-to-PDF is clean. Inspect the file.