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Remove Metadata from PDF on Mac: 3 Methods

Remove metadata from PDF on Mac with Preview export, ExifTool, or qpdf and Ghostscript. Strip author and title before sharing contracts and decks.

By Petr Samokhin

Legal sends a redacted contract PDF, but Document Properties still lists the paralegal’s name, a template path, or the original Word author. Remove metadata before external share, e-discovery upload, or public download when hidden fields should not leave your org.

PDF metadata types

Viewers expose many fields under File → Properties or Get Info.

MetadataWhere it appears
Title, Author, SubjectDocument properties
Creator and ProducerExport app and PDF engine
Creation and modification datesProperties and compliance scans
XMP packetsEmbedded XML for DAM and Adobe workflows

Embedded JavaScript, attachments, and hidden layers are separate hygiene topics. Metadata removal also differs from shrinking embedded images. When byte size is the main problem, see how to compress PDF on Mac . Online sanitizers upload the full document; for NDAs and board decks, keep processing local. See are online file compressors safe .

Method 1: Remove metadata in Preview

Best for: Simple files and a quick cleaner copy.

  1. Open the PDF in Preview.
  2. File → Export… (not Save on a dirty original).
  3. Save a new filename in redacted/.
  4. Open the copy and compare Tools → Show Inspector → More Info when available.

For image-heavy decks where metadata is fine but size is not, re-export from Keynote at screen quality instead of repeated filter passes.

Limitation: Preview does not guarantee complete XMP removal. Complex InDesign or enterprise Word exports may retain packets.

Method 2: Strip with ExifTool

Best for: Deterministic author and title removal.

brew install exiftool
exiftool -PDF:Author= -PDF:Title= -PDF:Subject= -PDF:Keywords= input.pdf

Safer for archives: write a new file:

exiftool -all= -o clean.pdf input.pdf

Batch a folder:

mkdir clean
for f in *.pdf; do exiftool -all= -o "clean/$f" "$f"; done

Verify remaining tags with exiftool clean.pdf.

Limitation: ExifTool is a metadata tool, not a certified redaction suite for classified content.

Method 3: qpdf and Ghostscript

Best for: Structural rewrite when ExifTool alone is not enough.

brew install qpdf
qpdf --linearize input.pdf output.pdf

Then strip tags on output.pdf with ExifTool.

Ghostscript can drop some info dictionary entries during a rewrite:

brew install ghostscript
gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 -dNOPAUSE -dQUIET -dBATCH \
 -sOutputFile=clean.pdf input.pdf

Compare one page visually after Ghostscript. Prefer ExifTool when you must preserve exact rendering.

Limitation: Aggressive rewrite can soft-type on scans.

Check the result

Spot-check Document Properties on one file before you zip the packet. Keep originals/ with full metadata for internal records. Send only clean/ copies externally.

ScenarioWhy metadata matters
Client contractInternal author name reveals staffing
RFP responseProducer string shows toolchain
Public whitepaperOld Title from a draft filename

When Preview or ExifTool is enough

Preview is enough for a simple export when Inspector looks clean. ExifTool fits folders and compliance checks.

GetCompress is not a dedicated PDF metadata stripper. When the real pain is embedded image weight, use it to compress PDF files locally, then strip author fields with ExifTool on the smaller output if required. It does not replace legal redaction tools. Pair with how to compress PDF on Mac for size-first workflows.

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