One-click privacy clean-up: strip metadata, embedded JavaScript, hidden text, annotations, attachments and tracked changes from your PDF and download a safe, distribution-ready copy. Ideal for legal filings, public releases and FOIA-style sharing.
Click to select a file or drag and drop
Your files never leave your device.
Sanitization removes sensitive content permanently. Some options may affect PDF rendering.
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Drag a PDF onto the upload zone or pick it from your device. The file is processed locally in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
ZentoPDF removes the /Info and XMP metadata streams, deletes /JavaScript actions, drops embedded files (/EmbeddedFiles), strips annotations and clears hidden text behind redaction rectangles.
Click download to grab a brand-new, privacy-clean PDF safe to release publicly, file with a court or post on the web. The visible page content is preserved.
Strip hidden data from your PDF.
Strip comments, highlights, and links.
Make form fields and annotations non-editable by flattening them into the PDF.
Reduce the file size of your PDF documents while maintaining the best possible quality.
Lock your PDF by adding a password.
Sanitization is a one-pass privacy clean-up that removes everything in a PDF that is not strictly necessary to render the visible pages: metadata, embedded JavaScript, hidden text behind black redaction rectangles, annotations, comments, attachments and tracked-change data. The result is safe for public distribution.
No. Redaction removes specific words or regions you select on each page. Sanitization removes hidden data and metadata that exist alongside the visible content (often without you knowing). Most workflows do both: redact the sensitive words first, then sanitize before sharing the redacted file.
No — only invisible / hidden data is removed. Text, images, layout, fonts and form fields are preserved exactly as in the original. After sanitization the PDF looks identical to anyone opening it.
No. The entire sanitization runs locally in your browser using pdf-lib. Your original PDF and the cleaned output never leave your device, which is essential for sensitive legal, journalistic and HR workflows.
By default form fields and digital signatures are preserved (they are usually intended). If you also want to flatten forms or remove signatures, run the cleaned PDF through our Flatten PDF tool after sanitization.