How to remove attachments from a PDF

How to remove attachments from a PDF with Deckle

1. Open your PDF in a reader that lists attachments, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, and save any attached file you want to keep.
2. Open Remove PDF metadata and choose the PDF, or drop it onto the page.
3. Find Embedded attachments. The item is labelled with the count, such as "2 embedded files", and lists their names, for example costings.xlsx, notes.docx.
4. Tick it. A notice appears: "Attachments will be removed. Save any you need. The source PDF stays unchanged."
5. Untick any other items you want to keep, such as Title.
6. Choose Remove metadata and download the "(clean)" copy.
7. Open the copy in a reader and check that its attachments panel is empty.

After saving, Deckle reopens the copy, checks that the attachments are gone and compares each page with the original.

What counts as an attachment

PDFs can carry whole files inside them. You will not see them on the pages, which is why they are easy to forget.

• Source files. A report exported with its spreadsheet, or a drawing with its CAD file.
• Supporting documents. Invoices with a delivery note attached, or an application form with scanned certificates.
• Portfolio items. Some apps bundle several files into one PDF portfolio, each stored as an attachment.

An attachment can hold far more than the PDF shows: a costing spreadsheet behind a one-page summary, or every earlier draft. That is the main reason to check before sending a PDF outside your organisation.

All attachments are removed together

Deckle lists the embedded files as one item and removes them all when it is ticked. To keep one attachment and drop another, save the one you want to keep from your reader, remove all of them with Deckle, and send the kept file separately or merge it in as pages with Merge PDFs if it is a PDF.

How to see a PDF's attachments

• Adobe Acrobat Reader. Open the attachments panel. Each attached file can be opened or saved from there.
• Other readers. Not every viewer lists attachments. If yours does not, the Deckle scan shows whether a PDF has any under Embedded attachments.

Attachments on pages

A file can also be attached to a spot on a page, shown as a paper-clip or pushpin comment. Ticking Embedded attachments removes these file-attachment comments too, along with files linked to pages as associated files. The list names the files stored at the document level; when a PDF only has attachments on pages, the item reads "Embedded files (nested or associated)". Save any of them you need from your reader before you remove them.

Tips

• Save before you remove. Removed attachments are not in the new copy. The original still has them.
• Check the file size. A PDF much larger than its pages suggest often has attachments. Removing them can shrink it noticeably.
• Remove attachments last. Re-exporting from the source app can embed them again.
• Look at the names first. A file name such as salaries-2026.xlsx tells you whether it should travel with the document.

Frequently asked questions

Will removing attachments change the pages?

No. Only the embedded files are removed. Pages, text and appearance stay the same.

Can I get the attachments back?

Not from the cleaned copy. Open the original PDF, which Deckle never changes, and save them from there.

Why is the attachment item not ticked by default?

Nothing is ticked at the start, so attached content is never removed without your choice.

Is the PDF uploaded to remove attachments?

No. The file is read and rewritten in your browser and is not uploaded.

Can I remove attachments from a password-protected PDF?

Unlock it first with Unlock PDF using its password, remove the attachments from the unlocked copy, then protect the cleaned file again with Password protect PDF.

Does this remove images on the pages?

No. Images on the pages are page content, not attachments.

Related tools

• Remove PDF metadata to remove embedded attachments and other metadata
• Merge PDFs to add an attached PDF back in as pages