How to Sanitize a PDF Document

Securely sanitize your PDF document offline to fully remove all sensitive data in your PDF on Windows, macOS, and Linux with Xodo PDF Studio.

PDF documents can contain sensitive information, whether you can see it or not. While you can take care of the visible information on your PDF pages, getting rid of the details you can’t see requires sanitizing your documents.

Sanitizing your PDF enables you to remove hidden data from PDF documents. This is different from redacting PDFs where you can simply black out the text on the page.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to sanitize a PDF using Xodo PDF Studio, our desktop PDF editor available on Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing you to work securely offline.

Let's delve a bit deeper into document sanitization first.

What does it mean to sanitize a PDF?

When you sanitize a PDF document, you’re essentially stripping away any sensitive and identifying metadata.

This is because once created, a PDF document can accumulate and contain information about itself, its content, and its user.

This data can include details such as how the PDF was created, the identity of the author, the file’s creation date, data from other versions, form data, attachments, embedded content, hidden layers, and more.

Sanitizing a document lets you clean metadata from PDF and get rid of that sensitive information in one shot while securing your PDF against malicious users.

With the right tool, it takes only a few quick steps to sanitize your PDF files.

How to sanitize a PDF with Xodo PDF Studio

To sanitize your PDF with Xodo PDF Studio, follow the steps below:

1. Download and install Xodo PDF Studio on your Windows, macOS, or Linux.
2. Open your PDF file in Xodo PDF Studio.
3. Go to Secure >Sanitize. Click on OK in the information dialog box that appears.
4. Choose a location to save your document.
5. Click on Save to sanitize and save your document.

Note that sanitizing documents essentially converts your pages to images to remove any sensitive data from PDF.

Any edits you need to make to the content should be done before sanitizing it. After you complete the process, you won't be able to edit the PDF anymore.

What types of data are sanitized? The PDF content sanitization feature in Xodo PDF Studio removes the following:

• Metadata
• Document Info
• Attachments
• JavaScript Actions
• Links
• Form Fields
• Comments
• Unused Resources
• Unreferenced Data
• Hidden Layers
• Hidden Data
• Overlapping Objects
• Embedded Search Indexes

Of course, securing PDF documents doesn’t stop there. Xodo PDF Studio offers additional security options to add more layers of security if needed.

Additional tips for securing your PDF documents

You can add advanced security elements to your PDF documents without having to leave Xodo PDF Studio.

We’ll quickly cover a couple of advanced security features, showing you how to:

• Redact your PDF files
• Password protect your PDFs

How to redact sensitive PDF data securely

Here's how to securely redact sensitive PDF data with Xodo PDF Studio:

1. Open the PDF file in Xodo PDF Studio.
2. Go to the Document tab > Redact > Mark for Redaction. You can also use Ctrl + Shift + Y (Command + Shift + Y on Mac)
3. Click or drag with the mouse to select the text, images, or areas you want to redact.
4. After marking all desired areas, return to the Redaction menu and choose Apply All Redactions.
5. Select where you want to save your redacted PDF and click Save.

This way you can permanently redact information in PDF on your Windows, macOS, or Linux device completely offline.

How to password protect your PDFs

Password protect your PDF with Xodo PDF Studio by following the steps below:

1. Open your PDF file in Xodo PDF Studio.
2. Go to File > Properties or use the shortcut keys Ctrl + D (Command + D on Mac).
3. In the "Document Properties" dialog that pops up, click on the Security tab and click on Edit.
4. The "Change Document Security" dialog will appear where you can select your Encryption level, specify your file permissions, and create your passwords for opening the file and offering permission to perform the tasks specified.
5. When you’re done, click on OK. Then click on OK in the next "Warning" dialog.

Sanitize, redact, and secure your documents with Xodo

Sanitizing a PDF document is a critical step in protecting sensitive information and ensuring data privacy. Our guide on Xodo PDF Studio highlights how easy it is to sanitize PDF on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Moreover, you also learned how to further secure your PDF by redacting visible content or adding passwords to prevent unauthorized access.

Xodo PDF Studio is advanced enough to offer a wide range of options against unintended data leaks and ensuring that only the intended content remains accessible.

Start securing your documents with Xodo PDF Studio!