How to View All Hidden PDF Information (Author, Creation Date, Title, etc. Metadata & Properties)
Many PDF files contain hidden information that is not visible when reading the main text, such as the author's real name, the software used to edit the file, and the exact creation date. With this tool, you can view this hidden data locally in just a few simple steps:
- Import Files: Click the red gradient folder import area above, or drag and drop your local PDF files directly into that area.
- Automatic Parsing: Once imported, a file list will be shown. The PDF engine will quietly parse the metadata locally in your browser. Upon completion, the "PDF Info Metadata" and "XMP XML Metadata" panels for each file will display automatically.
- View & Copy: In the displayed information panels, you can clearly inspect the keys and values of various properties. you can find hidden text/data in PDF. If needed, click the "Copy" button in the upper-right corner of each panel to copy all information to your clipboard with one click.
If you want to permanently erase this private data, click the "Remove Metadata & Download" button in the upper-right corner of the file card. Once processed, a clean version of the PDF file (completely free of hidden metadata) will download automatically.
This program can also be used to detect and determine whether a PDF file contains metadata and XMP data. You can see the detection results immediately after importing the PDF.
Batch View Hidden Info & Metadata Properties of Multiple PDFs
This tool fully supports batch processing. You can drag and drop or select multiple PDF files at once:
- Once imported, the total count and index of each file will be shown. Metadata is parsed asynchronously and independently without interfering with each other.
- In multi-file scenarios, in addition to cleaning and downloading individual files, a "Download All" button will also appear at the top of the list.
- Clicking this button automatically removes both Info metadata and XMP streams from all successfully imported files, packaging them into a single ZIP archive for download.
What Types of Hidden Data Exist in PDFs?
In the PDF specification, metadata is primarily stored in two co-existing systems: the traditional PDF Info Dictionary format and the modern XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) stream format. Understanding this helps you better manage your PDF privacy.
PDF Info Metadata
This is the earliest and most classic metadata storage method in the PDF specification. It is appended to the PDF Trailer in the form of key-value pairs (dictionaries). Common standard keys include:
| Standard Key | Description | Technical Context |
|---|---|---|
Title | Title | The subject name of the file. |
Author | Author | Typically the user name of the Office or editor software (e.g., WPS) that created the file. |
Subject | Subject | A brief explanation of the PDF file's content. |
Keywords | Keywords | Comma-separated keywords for document search and archiving. |
Creator | Creator | The name of the software that converted the original document to PDF (e.g., Microsoft Word). |
Producer | PDF Producer | The underlying engine that generated the final PDF bytes (e.g., Acrobat Distiller or Microsoft® Word). |
CreationDate | Creation Date | The exact time when the file was converted to PDF, usually containing a timezone offset. |
ModDate | Modification Date | The timestamp of the last modification or saving of the PDF file. |
Trapped | Trapping Flag | Indicates whether the document has been trapping-processed (value is True, False, etc.). |
Non-standard custom attributes may also appear in this dictionary. For instance, PDFs exported from enterprise systems often record custom key-value pairs like Company or SourceID.
PDF XMP Metadata
XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) is a modern metadata system advocated by Adobe. Instead of simple dictionaries, it structures metadata as an XML data stream embedded within the PDF's Catalog node.
XMP is based on the W3C RDF specification, enabling highly complex data structures (such as multilingual descriptions, camera ISO parameters, and copyright statements). However, this means PDFs may contain a vast amount of granular privacy data. When securing files, simply clearing the Info dictionary is insufficient; you must erase the XMP stream to achieve complete physical privacy protection.