Check and remove metadata: what a file sends along
Every file carries more than what shows on screen: names, locations, serial numbers, earlier versions, comments and text under black bars. File X-ray reads PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, photos, audio and video byte by byte, shows every finding with a traffic light, its raw value and where it sits in the file, and makes a clean copy. The file never leaves the browser.
What the X-ray finds
- Document information and XMP with edit history, every earlier version from incremental saves with its difference, fake redactions, white and invisible text, text beside the page, hidden layers, comments, form values, JavaScript and actions, embedded files, signatures and the EXIF data of the pictures.
- Word, Excel, PowerPoint
- Author and last saved by, company, template path with user name, tracked changes with deleted text, comments, hidden text, editing sessions, very hidden sheets, pivot caches with source data, data connections, hidden slides, speaker notes, macros and the pictures in the package.
- Photos
- EXIF with GPS on a map that needs no map service, device and serial number, owner, capture time, XMP, IPTC, colour profile, C2PA and the embedded preview compared with the photo.
- Audio and video
- Location of phone videos, device, timestamps, encoder, ID3 tags with comments and cover art, Broadcast Wave details and telemetry tracks.
- Every file
- SHA-256, whether the extension matches the content and whether data hides after the end of the file, such as a ZIP behind a JPEG.
The clean copy
- Lossless
- Pixels, sound and video stay identical byte for byte; colour profile and orientation are kept.
- Fully rewritten without earlier versions, metadata, scripts and attachments. With fake redactions, pages as images remove the text for sure.
- Office
- Without personal properties, comments, people lists, session ids and printer details. Tracked changes are accepted, rejected or kept without names; hidden sheets and slides are only removed when you choose so.
- Re-check
- The copy is X-rayed again at once. Whatever remains is listed with its traffic light.
Example: a photo from an iPhone
A JPEG of 15.1 KB, 320 × 240 pixels, as it would be sent by e-mail.
| Findings | 9: 4 red, 3 amber, 2 grey |
|---|---|
| Location | 47.376900, 8.541700 (Zurich) |
| People | Author and owner: Hans Muster |
| Device | Apple iPhone 15 Pro, serial number F2LXK1234ABC |
| Preview image | shows other content than the photo |
| Clean copy | 10.7 KB, checked again: 0 red, 0 amber, pixels identical |
The preview image is the most often overlooked finding: whoever crops a photo often still sends the cut-away part inside the preview.
Frequently asked questions about File X-ray
Is my file uploaded?
No. The file is read in the browser inside an isolated worker. There is no connection to a server, no analytics and no account. Even the map is built into the tool.
Is anything from the file executed?
No. Scripts, macros and actions are only shown as text. SVG and HTML are never rendered; pdf.js draws PDF pages without JavaScript and with its own glyph outlines.
What do the colours mean?
Red means it exposes a person, a place, hidden or deleted content, or active content. Amber are details that lead back to you, such as serial numbers or company names. Grey are neutral technical facts.
What is a fake redaction?
A black bar drawn over text instead of removing it. The text can still be copied. The X-ray finds it, outlines it on the page and shows it as text.
Does the clean copy change my content?
Only if you choose so. Visible content stays the same. Where a decision would change content, such as accepting changes or removing hidden sheets, the tool asks.
Which formats are read?
PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX with macro variants, legacy DOC, XLS and PPT, OpenDocument, JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, TIFF, GIF, SVG, MP4, MOV, M4A, MP3, WAV, FLAC and ZIP.