How to remove hidden metadata before sharing a file

What you’ll do

• Drop a PDF on Share Safe. Other file types are refused.
• Drag black boxes over lines that must not travel, or skip redact on purpose.
• Read the strip list: Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, dates, producer.
• Pick No target, or 1, 2, 5, or 10 MB, and read the before and after size.
• Download the share-safe PDF and open it before you attach it.

How to

1. 1

   Drop a PDF

   Open Share Safe. The drop line says Drop a PDF, and the note under it says the pass is redact, then strip, then size. The file stays on this device. A file that is not a PDF is refused: Share Safe is for PDFs, with a next step toward Compress Any or Proof Ink. A PDF that cannot be opened fails honestly. You do not get a pretend-clean file.

2. 2

   Redact, or skip on purpose

   Drag on the page to draw a black box. The hint says that. Prev and Next move pages. Undo removes the last box. Clear all removes every box. Cancel leaves the job. Draw the box over the line that must not travel: a home address, an account number, a salary, a name that is not the recipient’s. Skip redact asks you to confirm: Continue without redacting? We’ll still strip metadata and check size. Continue then moves on. Skipping is a choice you confirm, not an accident.

3. 3

   Read what was stripped

   The strip step says Metadata removed, or No metadata found. When fields were present, the list can include Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Dates, and Producer. Those are the crumbs a PDF exported years ago still carries — an old client, an old firm, a computer user name. You do not open a second tool to clear them. Continue when you have read the list.

4. 4

   Check size

   Optional target offers No target, 1 MB, 2 MB, 5 MB, and 10 MB. The page shows the size before and after. If the file is already fine for most mail, it can say so. Use Strong only when you picked a target and the file is still over it. Continue when the number is one you can send. A hard email budget has its own guide. A form under 1 MB has its own guide. Stay on this page for the hygiene pass.

5. 5

   Download and open it

   Download share-safe PDF. The page notes that it opens in a standard PDF reader. Open it. Try to select text inside a black box. The blackout is flattened, so the words underneath are gone — not a highlight you can delete. If you still need a searchable copy for yourself, that is the original you did not send. Pack another starts a new file.

6. 6

   If it is still too big

   After download, the page can point you to Strong in Compress PDF. Use that when the honest size is still over the desk’s cap. Share Safe’s size step is a check inside the same pass, not a promise that every scan will hit 1 MB. The compress-without-upload guide explains Light and Strong when size is the only job.

What strip does not do

Stripping Title and Author does not remove an account number printed on page two. That number is page content. Draw a box over it, or it travels. A black box you can still select through is not this tool. Share Safe flattens the box so the underlying text is removed.

Share Safe also does not pack an invoice, a quote, and a pay code into a zip. That is a different live tool. One PDF, made safe to send, is this job. PDF Metadata is the door when you only want to inspect fields. This pass strips them as part of sending.

Honest limits

Non-PDF files are refused. Corrupt PDFs fail. A target the file cannot reach is reported as the size you actually got, and Strong is offered when you are still over. Hidden metadata here means the common document-info fields listed on the strip step, not every possible embedded attachment a specialist tool might hunt.

Free is 5 completions every 24 hours per device. A successful share-safe PDF download is one completion. Opening the file, previewing a page, or drawing a box does not spend it. Unlock is $0.99/day. Pro is $3.99/mo. The PDF stays on this device for the job on every plan.

Tips

• Keep the original on this device when you still need the unredacted text.
• Read the strip list even when you think the PDF is new. Author is often stale.
• Confirm Skip redact only when the page text is already safe to show.
• Open the download once before you attach it. Check one black box by trying to select through it.

When the tool says no

• Share Safe is for PDFs. Other files are pointed at Compress Any or Proof Ink.
• A PDF that cannot be opened or prepared fails. No fake clean file is written.
• Skip redact still strips metadata, but only after you confirm that sentence.

Next

Still too big after the size step? Strong in Compress PDF. Only need to understand on-device shrinking? The compress-without-upload guide. Only need to read fields without a send pass? PDF Metadata.

Related

Live tools and guides · Instant & Private