PDF Destroyer
Shred, black out or blank pages so they can never be recovered, or use the chaos & utility toolkit: scrub metadata, lock down, hide secret messages and more. All 100% in your browser.
Destroy PDF at a glance
The essentials before you scrub, lock or scramble.
- Price
- Free, with no sign-up. Eight PDF utilities, from metadata cleaning to copy protection, at no cost.
- Input
- Any PDF file. From your device, Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive. Password-protected files can be unlocked on the spot.
- You get
- A new, changed copy of your PDF. Scrub or edit metadata, lock text against copying, hide a secret message, scramble pages and more.
- Limits
- 1 PDF up to 50 MB without an account. With a free account: 3 PDFs at once, 80 MB in total. Up to 2,000 pages per file.
- Works on
- Any browser, nothing to install. iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook.
- Privacy
- 100% in your browser. Your PDF is processed on your own device and never uploaded.
How to destroy a PDF
Why use our Destroy PDF tool
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove metadata from a PDF?
Add your PDF above, pick Metadata Scrubber and download the cleaned copy. It clears the title, author, subject, keywords, creator and producer, any custom fields, the XMP metadata, private application data and the document ID, and resets the dates. Our guide on removing PDF metadata explains why it matters.
How do I edit PDF metadata instead?
Pick Metadata Editor to set your own title, author, creator app, producer and creation date, then download the updated PDF.
Does scrubbing metadata hide the text on the pages?
No. Metadata is the hidden information about the file, not its visible content. To black out text or images, use Redact PDF; to remove whole pages, use Delete Pages.
How do I stop people copying text from my PDF?
Pick Lockdown: every page is turned into an image, so nobody can select, copy, search or extract the text. The pages look the same, but the file may get larger and is no longer searchable. See also our guide on preventing copying from a PDF.
Can I hide a secret message inside a PDF?
Yes. Ghostwriter hides a message in the file without changing how the pages look. Add a password to encrypt it, or leave it open for anyone who checks the file here. Use the same tool to reveal a hidden message later.
How do I shuffle the pages of a PDF?
Pick Scramble to put the pages in a random order. Your original file isn't touched; you download a scrambled copy.
What are Heavyweight, Chaos Text and Molasses for?
They're playful utilities. Heavyweight pads a PDF to a target size in MB, handy for testing upload limits. Chaos Text turns the text into a jittery, unreadable mess. Molasses makes a PDF slow to scroll and render.
Is anything uploaded to your server?
No. All eight utilities run entirely in your browser, so the PDF never leaves your device. Only a password-protected file you choose to unlock is sent to our server for that step.
Does it change my original file?
No. Each tool creates a new copy for you to download, and your original PDF stays as it was.
Can I process several PDFs at once?
With a free account you can work on up to 3 PDFs at once (80 MB in total), and the results download together in one ZIP.