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Fix · a common PDF problem

PDF shows your name as author?

Short answer. Office apps and scanners write your account name, the software and dates into the PDF’s metadata. It travels with the file. Remove the Info dictionary and the XMP packet before sharing.
PDF inspectorRead in this tab, never run
Drop a PDF anywhere on this pageThe instant X-ray reads the raw bytes; the full inspector then parses every object in a Web Worker. Nothing is uploaded or executed.
What you’ll see
  • JavaScript and actions that run on open
  • Attached files, fonts (embedded or not), images
  • Version, encryption, incremental saves, metadata
Requests since you added a file: 0Counted by this page · check it without trusting us

Causes and fixes

  1. 1
    Author and Creator fieldsFilled from your computer account or app profile.
    Remove metadata
  2. 2
    XMP packetAn XML block that can repeat the same details and keep editing history.
    Remove XMP too
  3. 3
    Names on the page itselfVisible text isn’t metadata.
    Redact visible text

What is going on

When you export a document to PDF, the app usually records who made it, which program produced it, and when. Viewers show this under Document Properties, and anyone receiving the file can read it. For a CV that is harmless; for an anonymous review, a whistle-blowing report or a redacted filing it can undo the point of sending the file.

PDF keeps this in two places. The document information dictionary holds Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer and dates. The XMP packet is an XML block that often repeats those values and sometimes adds more, such as the original file name. The inspector above shows both.

Removing metadata here deletes both and then reads the new file back, so you can see that nothing remains. It does not touch what is printed on the pages: a name in the letterhead needs redaction, not metadata removal.

Checked 2026-10-05. The diagnostic above runs in this tab; your file is not uploaded.