Remove Hidden Data From a PDF

A PDF is a container. Next to the pages you read, it can hold whole files, scripts that run when it opens, the text of earlier saves, layers that are switched off and the values typed into a form.

The tool runs in your browser (JavaScript required). Nothing is uploaded.

What can be hiding in the file

Some of it is put there on purpose — an attached spreadsheet, a form that adds up numbers. Some of it accumulates: every time a PDF is saved incrementally, the previous version stays inside the file, and text deleted in the last round can be read from it.

  • Attached files, from a single spreadsheet to a folder of them
  • JavaScript and automatic actions that run on open, or that send form data somewhere
  • Earlier saves kept by incremental updates
  • Layers that are turned off, and text drawn invisibly (white on white, or an OCR layer under a scan)
  • Form values, XFA form data, bookmarks, and the document properties

Detected, not just deleted

Everything found is shown before anything is changed, with what it is and where it sits, so you can tell an attachment you meant to send from one you forgot about. Items this version cannot look inside — the contents of an attachment, for example — are said to be unread rather than passed as checked.

The copy is then written from scratch, which is what makes earlier saves disappear, and is reopened and scanned again before anything is reported as removed.

Questions

Does this open the files attached to the PDF?

No. Attachments are listed with their name, size and type, and removed if you choose; what is inside them is not inspected, and the report says so.

Will removing scripts break the document?

For ordinary reading, no: scripts are not needed to display a page. A form that calculates totals will stop calculating, which is why scripts and form fields are separate decisions.

Why does the report mention earlier versions of my file?

Because saving a PDF often appends changes instead of rewriting it, so the previous state is still inside. The copy made here is written in one piece, without them.

Can hidden text be found if it is invisible on the page?

Yes — white text, text with no fill and text under a picture are read like any other text. Whether you remove it is still your decision.

What happens with a file that unpacks to a huge size?

It is refused with an explanation instead of being unpacked. A PDF that expands far beyond its size is a known way to exhaust a browser, so it is stopped before that — and nothing is reported as checked.