How to safely share PDFs

Know what “scrubbing” means

Scrubbing removes common metadata and interactive elements. It does not remove identifiers that are visible in the content.

Prefer least exposure

• Share only the pages that are necessary.
• Remove hyperlinks and annotations if they are not needed.
• Avoid including “extra” files or attachments.

Validate before sending

Open the scrubbed PDF and confirm:

• Content looks correct
• Links are removed (all annotations are removed by default)
• Dates are normalized

If your risk is high, consider an air‑gapped or offline workflow.