How to edit PDF metadata (title, author, keywords)
Updated
Contents
To edit a PDF's metadata, open Edit PDF Metadata, add your file, and type over the values it shows: Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, and Producer, plus the Created and Modified dates. Press Save metadata and download the copy. To strip all of it before you share a file, choose Remove all metadata instead.
Metadata is the document information a PDF carries beside its pages. Many readers show the title in the window or tab instead of the file name, search tools index it, and anyone who opens the file's properties can read the author, which is often your name, filled in by the app that made the file.
It runs in your browser, so your PDF stays on your device. It opens one file at a time, up to 100 MB, and the pages themselves are not changed.
Step by step
- 1Open the Edit PDF Metadata tool and drop your PDF where it says Drop your PDF here, or click browse. It stays on your device.
- 2Wait for the Document properties fields to fill in with what the file holds now. A field that reads Not set has no value.
- 3Type over any field, or empty it to remove that entry. Created and Modified take a date and time in your device's time zone.
- 4To remove everything instead, switch What to do from Edit values to Remove all metadata.
- 5Press Save metadata, or Remove metadata when removing. Check the values read back from the saved copy, then press Download PDF; the copy's name ends in -metadata.
What each field is for
Title is what many readers show in place of the file name, and the line a search engine may use for the file. Author names the person or company behind it. Subject is a one-line summary, and Keywords are words a desktop search or a document library can find the file by; separate them with commas.
Creator is the app the document was made in, such as a word processor, and Producer is the program that wrote the PDF. Created and Modified are the dates the file states for itself. A scanned or converted file often carries the date it was converted rather than the date of the document, and you can correct either one.
The second copy, XMP
Many PDFs keep the same information twice: once in the document information entries and again in an XMP packet, a block of XML that Acrobat and other readers prefer when it is there. A tool that changed only the first copy would leave those readers showing the old title.
So when a file has XMP, a note beside Document properties says so, and saving replaces the packet with a fresh one holding the same values as the fields. Anything else the old packet held is not kept. A file with no XMP packet does not get one.
What Remove all metadata takes out, and what it leaves
Remove all metadata deletes the Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, and Producer entries, both dates, and the XMP packet. Every page is kept as it was.
It does not touch what is on the pages, or the comments, form fields, bookmarks and the metadata inside embedded images. If the private details are in the text or pictures on a page, use Redact PDF to remove them from the page itself.
Files it cannot change
An encrypted PDF cannot be opened here, even one that only limits printing or copying. Unlock PDF can remove the encryption with a password you know; it runs on a secure server, not in your browser.
A PDF carrying a digital signature can be edited, but the copy is a changed file, so the signature in it will no longer verify. Keep the signed original if the signature matters.
Common questions
How do I change the title of a PDF?
Open the file, type the new title into the Title field, press Save metadata and download the copy. The file name is a separate thing: rename the downloaded file in your folder if you want that changed too.
Why does my PDF reader still show the old title?
Make sure you opened the downloaded copy, not the original. Some readers show the file name rather than the title unless the PDF asks them to, and a reader may remember what it showed last time. When the file had XMP metadata, the copy's XMP holds the new title too.
How do I remove my name from a PDF before sharing it?
Empty the Author field and save, or choose Remove all metadata to clear every entry at once. A name typed on the pages themselves is not metadata; it stays until you remove it from the page.
Is my PDF sent to a server to change its metadata?
No. The file is opened, changed and saved in your browser tab. The page loads from pdf.xyz, but the PDF you pick is not sent to us.
Can I type a title in any language?
Yes. The values are stored as Unicode, so Bengali, Chinese, Arabic or any other script is saved exactly as typed and read back by other PDF readers.