Check a PDF for Personal Information
Check a PDF for personal information before it goes out: we list the ID numbers, emails and card numbers on its pages and everything hidden inside it — author names, comments, scripts, attachments and earlier versions. Then save a clean copy.
Fit Meter
Settings appear once you add a PDF.
Still going. Your own device is doing this, so a long scan or a big batch takes as long as it takes — and none of it is being uploaded.
Bytes of your files sent anywhere: 0 B · nothing leaves this tab
Every request this page makes is listed as it happens. You’ll see our own code loading, and for some formats a codec engine, but never your file going out.
- Waiting for network activity…
Check it yourself: open your browser’s developer tools on the Network tab, or turn off Wi-Fi once the page has loaded. The tools keep working.
How to check a PDF for personal information
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Add your PDF
Drop the PDF you’re about to send.
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Check the settings
Read the report: personal data on the pages, and what’s hidden in the file — metadata, comments, scripts, attachments, old versions.
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Save the result
Save a clean copy with the hidden parts removed. For personal data printed on the pages, redact it.
Why it doesn’t upload
A privacy check that uploads your file is a privacy problem in itself. This one reads the PDF in your browser, and the report never leaves your screen.
Check it in your browser’s Network tabWorth knowing
- Only text the PDF contains can be checked for personal data; scanned pages need OCR first.
- The clean copy removes hidden data but not what’s printed on the pages — use redaction for that.
- Pattern matching is a strong first pass, not a guarantee. Read the result before sending anything sensitive.
Under the hood
What happens to your file
The scan reads what a PDF carries besides its pages: metadata in the Info dictionary and XMP, attached files, JavaScript, form data, comments, hidden layers, and personal details in the text itself found with pattern matching. It reports each finding and can write a clean copy with the hidden parts removed.
Reference: ISO 32000-2 (PDF 2.0)
Questions
What can a PDF reveal without me knowing?
Your name and company in the metadata, the software and computer that made it, reviewers’ names on comments, earlier versions with deleted text, attached files, and text placed off the visible page. None of it shows when you look at the pages.
Is my PDF safe to share?
Scan it here. If the report shows nothing in red, the hidden parts are clean — then check that what’s printed on the pages is what you mean to send.
How do I remove what the scan finds?
Hidden data goes with Save a clean copy. Personal data printed on the pages needs Auto-Redact or Redact PDF, which remove it from the page itself.
Why do old versions matter?
Many editors save changes by appending them, keeping the earlier file intact inside. A deleted paragraph can still be sitting in there. The clean copy rewrites the file without them.
Read more about this
More security & privacy tools
All security & privacy tools- Auto-Redact Personal Info Find emails, phone, card and ID numbers, and black them all out at once.
- Remove PDF Metadata Strip the author, software, dates and hidden XMP before you share.
- Redact PDF Black out text for good — the words underneath are removed, not covered.
- Flatten PDF Bake form fields, comments and stamps into the page so nothing can be edited.