Automatically Remove Specific Pages from PDFs in Google Drive Using n8n and PDF.co
What You’ll Have When Done
You’ll have a fully automated n8n workflow that:
- Watches a Google Drive folder for new PDF uploads
- Searches for specific text in the PDF (e.g., company names, keywords)
- Identifies the pages containing that text
- Deletes those pages automatically using PDF.co
- Saves the cleaned PDF into another Google Drive folder — no manual editing needed.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, make sure you have:
- Two Google Drive folders:
- Input Folder → where PDFs are uploaded (e.g.,
INPUT_FOLDER) - Output Folder → where processed PDFs will be saved (e.g.,
OUTPUT_FOLDER)
- Input Folder → where PDFs are uploaded (e.g.,
- A running n8n instance (self-hosted or cloud)
- A valid PDF.co API key → https://app.pdf.co/
- Google Drive OAuth2 credentials set up in n8n
- A sample PDF file you can test with.
Download Sample PDF (or use any of your own)
Install the PDF.co Node Before Importing
The JSON workflow uses the PDF.co community node. Install it before importing the blueprint so n8n can recognize and display the PDF.co steps.
- In n8n, open Settings → Community Nodes.
- Select Install a community node.
- Enter:
n8n-nodes-pdfco - Complete the installation and reload the n8n editor.
If the blueprint was already imported and its PDF.co nodes are missing, install the package, reload n8n, and import the JSON again. Installing community nodes may require workspace-owner or instance-owner access.
Quick Start Options
Option A — Import Ready-to-Use Workflow
- Download & import the JSON provided below- JSON File
- Connect your Google Drive and PDF.co accounts
- Link your input & output folders
- Test it by uploading a PDF with the target text.
Option B — Build It Step-by-Step
- Follow the guide below to build your workflow manually.
What This Automation Does
- Google Drive Trigger — watches a folder for new PDFs
- PDF.co Search — finds target text and its page numbers
- Code Node — extracts those page indexes
- PDF.co Delete Pages — removes matched pages
- HTTP Request — downloads the updated PDF
- Google Drive Upload — saves the new version to another folder
Step 1: Set Up Google Drive Folders
- Create INPUT_FOLDER and OUTPUT_FOLDER in Google Drive.
- Copy the folder IDs from their URLs.
Success looks like: Two accessible folders with their IDs ready to use in n8n.
Step 2: Google Drive Trigger
Node: Google Drive Trigger
Settings:
- Trigger On:
Specific Folder - Folder to Watch: I
NPUT_FOLDER - Event:
File Created - Poll Time:
Every Minute
Result: The workflow starts whenever a new PDF is uploaded to the input folder.
Step 3: Search for Target Text
Node: PDF.co API – Search in PDF
Settings:
- Operation:
Search in PDF - URL:
={{ $json.webContentLink }} - Search String: e.g.
Atlas Office Solutions(can be dynamic too)
Result: PDF.co returns all pages containing the target string.
Sample output:
{
"body": [
{ "pageIndex": 2 },
{ "pageIndex": 5 }
]
}Step 4: Extract Page Indexes
Node: Code (JavaScript) This node converts the list of page indexes into a clean, comma-separated string.
const items = $input.all();
const body = items[0].json.body || [];
const pageIndexes = body.map(entry => entry.pageIndex);
pageIndexes.sort((a, b) => a - b);
return [{ json: { pageIndexes: pageIndexes.join(',') } }];Result:
{
"pageIndexes": "2,5"
}Step 5: Delete Pages
Node: PDF.co API – Delete PDF Pages Settings:
- URL:
={{ $('Google Drive Trigger').item.json.webContentLink }} - Pages:
={{ $json.pageIndexes }}
Result: PDF.co returns a URL to the updated PDF without the unwanted pages:
{
"url": "https://pdf-co-temp-files.s3.amazonaws.com/Cleaned_File.pdf",
"name": "Cleaned_MyDocument.pdf"
}Step 6: Download File
Node: HTTP Request
Settings:
- Method:
GET - URL:
={{ $json.url }}
Result: n8n retrieves the binary version of the cleaned PDF.
Step 7: Upload to Google Drive
Node: Google Drive – Upload
Settings:
- Input Data Field:
data - File Name:
Cleaned_{{ $json.name }} - Folder:
OUTPUT_FOLDER - Drive:
My Drive
Result: The processed PDF appears in the output folder automatically.
Step 8: Test the Automation
- Upload a sample PDF to your INPUT folder.
- Wait 30–60 seconds.
- Check your OUTPUT folder — the unwanted pages are gone.
Congratulations!
You’ve built a fully automated n8n workflow that:
- Detects new PDFs in Google Drive
- Searches and removes pages dynamically
- Uploads the final version to a new folder
- Runs hands-free!
Built something amazing? Share your workflow and tag us @pdfdotco — we’d love to feature your automation!
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