An EPUB e-book is a ZIP file of web pages with a package file that describes the book. That file lists the title and author, the publisher, dates and rights, subjects and sometimes the program that built or managed the book. When a book comes from a store or from your own library program, other records can come along.
What is inside
- The package metadata: creator, contributor, publisher, publication date, rights statement, description and subjects.
- Library records: programs such as calibre add timestamps, library details and custom fields.
- A purchase record: a book bought from some stores can include a file with the buyer’s name and account.
- The last-modified time, which EPUB 3 requires.
Why remove it
Sharing a book you own with a friend can also share your account name. Publishing your own manuscript as EPUB can reveal the working names and tools you used. A library export can carry your personal tags.
What the cleaner does, and keeps
The EPUB Metadata Remover deletes the creator, contributor, publisher, dates, rights, description, subjects, library records and purchase records, sets the required modified date to a fixed value and keeps the title, the identifier, the language and the cover so readers still list the book normally. All chapters, styles and fonts are untouched.
Other e-book formats
MOBI and AZW files store similar tags in a different structure. Convert them to EPUB first, then clean the result.