Frequently asked questions
Answers to the common questions about privacy, supported formats, and how CleanFile works.
What does CleanFile remove?
CleanFile removes privacy-relevant metadata such as GPS coordinates, camera and software details, author names, timestamps, revision history fields, and archive comments when those fields are present in a supported file type.
Do my files get uploaded?
The tool is designed for local, in-browser processing. Your files are not sent to an application server as part of the cleaning workflow.
Will cleaning change the visible content?
The goal is to preserve the visible content while removing metadata. Some formats may be re-encoded during cleaning, but the content you see should remain the same for normal use.
Why does a file show 'No hidden metadata found'?
That means CleanFile did not detect privacy-relevant metadata fields in the current file, or the format does not expose removable metadata in the way the tool supports today.
Which file types are supported?
CleanFile supports common image formats, PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, MP3, MP4, MOV, and ZIP. Support for additional formats is added based on demand and parser reliability.
Can I clean multiple files at once?
Yes. You can add multiple files, remove individual items from the list, clean the ones that contain metadata, and download cleaned results as a ZIP archive.
Is this a replacement for antivirus or DLP tools?
No. CleanFile is specifically for metadata removal. It does not scan for malware, classify sensitive content, or replace enterprise security controls.
What should I send when reporting a bug?
Include the file type, the device or app that created it, which metadata fields you expected to remove, and what actually happened. That makes parser fixes much faster.
Still need help?
If your question is not covered here, contact us and we will help review the file type or issue.
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