remove metadata

[pill]

Does the application have any feature to remove metadata from files, or is it only for viewing them?

[highend]

What kind of metadata for which file types?

[pill]

The metadata of text files and photos, removing properties and personal information before sharing the files, for example the utility available in Linux called "metadata cleaner," on Windows is done through Explorer -> Properties -> Details.

[highend]

Inbuilt? No.

Scriptable: Yes.

As a starting point on Windows the python script from: https://github.com/sh1d0wg1m3r/Metadata-Removal-Tool
would work. I've run it through an AI coding agent to remove the tkinter (gui) stuff and create a cli version out of it.
That one can be compiled into an .exe file for easier access.

Running that on e.g. a .pdf file:

Code: Select all

Old version:
Output of: exiftool

ExifTool Version Number         : 13.28
File Name                       : Lefeld - W�rth Sets [01].pdf
Directory                       : D:/Users/Highend/Downloads
Warning                         : FileName encoding must be specified [x2]
File Size                       : 205 kB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2025:02:18 09:26:42+01:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2025:02:18 09:26:43+01:00
File Creation Date/Time         : 2025:02:18 09:26:42+01:00
File Permissions                : -rw-rw-rw-
File Type                       : PDF
File Type Extension             : pdf
MIME Type                       : application/pdf
PDF Version                     : 1.7
Linearized                      : No
Page Count                      : 1
Tagged PDF                      : Yes
XMP Toolkit                     : Adobe XMP Core 4.0-c316 44.253921, Sun Oct 01 2006 17:14:39
Modify Date                     : 2025:02:18 09:20:55+01:00
Create Date                     : 2025:02:18 09:20:55+01:00
Metadata Date                   : 2025:02:18 09:20:55+01:00
Creator Tool                    : Stimulsoft Reports 2024.3.1 from 13 June 2024, .NET 4.8
Format                          : application/pdf
Title                           : Angebot, Auftrag und Rechnungen
Description                     : Angebot, Auftrag und Rechnungen
Creator                         : Taskservice
Subject                         : 
Document ID                     : uuid:c6cb4599-61ab-3bae-aaf7-3890417ebcef
Instance ID                     : uuid:c6cb4599-61ab-3bae-aaf7-3890417ebcef
Producer                        : Stimulsoft Reports
Keywords                        : 
Part                            : 3
Conformance                     : A
Page Mode                       : UseNone
Author                          : Taskservice

New version:
Output of: exiftool

ExifTool Version Number         : 13.28
File Name                       : Lefeld - W�rth Sets.pdf
Directory                       : D:/Users/Highend/Downloads
Warning                         : FileName encoding must be specified [x2]
File Size                       : 199 kB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2025:04:27 08:53:57+02:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2025:04:27 08:53:57+02:00
File Creation Date/Time         : 2025:02:18 09:26:42+01:00
File Permissions                : -rw-rw-rw-
File Type                       : PDF
File Type Extension             : pdf
MIME Type                       : application/pdf
PDF Version                     : 1.7
Linearized                      : No
Page Count                      : 1
Producer                        : PyPDF2

Is it worth the issue to script it? Imho not (at least not for me).

Maybe you're better off with e.g.: https://www.digitalconfidence.com/BatchPurifier.html