About Edit PDF Metadata
Apart from its pages, a PDF can store a short list of facts about itself: its title, who wrote it, what it covers and which software produced it. You don’t see them while reading, yet they appear in a viewer’s document properties window, file search on your computer can pick them up, and some viewers and browsers display the title where you would expect the file name. This tool opens those properties, lets you rewrite them and saves the result as a new PDF.
Six fields are editable: Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator (the application the original document was made in) and Producer (the software that wrote the PDF file). The creation and modification dates are displayed as well, so you can see when the file claims it was made and last changed, but they are there for reference rather than for editing.
The Remove all metadata option
A PDF can keep these details in two places at once: the older document information dictionary, and an XMP metadata stream, a block of XML that many programs write alongside it. Removing all metadata clears both. That matters, because wiping only one would leave a second copy of the same author name sitting in the other, ready for any program that looks there.
How to use Edit PDF Metadata
- Load the documentChoose a PDF or drop it on the tool. Its current properties are read into the editing fields, with the creation and modification dates displayed beside them. Files that need a password to open must be unlocked with Unlock PDF first.
- Edit or clear the detailsType over any field you want to change and empty the ones you would rather not share. To strip everything at once, choose Remove all metadata instead of going field by field.
- Save the updated copySaving downloads a new PDF, while the file you opened stays as it was. Reopen the copy here, or in your viewer’s properties window, to see the new values.
When people use it
Replacing a leftover title
Documents exported from templates often keep a title like “Untitled” or the name of an old draft. Set the real title before you publish the PDF on a website, where browsers and search engines may show it to visitors.
Sharing a file without your name attached
Many apps fill in the Author field from the account name of the computer that created the file. For a blind peer review, an anonymous survey report or a contest entry, clear it, or remove all metadata, before the document goes out.
Tagging a library of manuals or invoices
Give related PDFs consistent Subject and Keywords entries, such as a product line or a client code. File search on many computers can match those properties, which makes the right document quicker to find.
A field-by-field guide
| Field | What it normally holds |
|---|---|
| Title | The document’s proper name as readers should see it, for example “2026 Tenant Handbook” |
| Author | The person or organization responsible; often filled in automatically from a user account |
| Subject | A one-line summary of what the document is about |
| Keywords | Search terms, usually separated by commas |
| Creator | The program the content was first written or designed in |
| Producer | The program or library that converted that content into a PDF file |
| Created and Modified | Timestamps for when the file was made and last changed; displayed here, not edited |
The file name is a separate matter. It belongs to your computer’s file system, not to the PDF, so rename the download if the name itself says more than you want.
Hidden information that lives elsewhere
Clearing the properties removes the document-level details, and only those. Other parts of a PDF can still give something away:
- The pages themselves. A name in a letterhead, a footer or a signature block is page content. Drop whole pages with Delete PDF Pages if they shouldn’t be shared.
- Photos inside the PDF. An embedded photo can carry its own EXIF block with camera details or GPS coordinates, and this tool doesn’t reach inside images. PDFs that pd00 builds from photos, through HEIC to PDF or JPG to PDF, leave EXIF out to begin with.
- Comments. Annotations usually record the name of whoever wrote them, separately from the Author property.
- Areas outside a crop. Content trimmed away with Crop PDF is hidden, not deleted, so it remains in the file.
Quality, size and where the work happens
Editing properties doesn’t touch the pages. Text, images and fonts are saved as they were, so there is no quality loss, and the file size barely moves; dropping a large XMP block may trim it slightly. Very big PDFs need a fair amount of memory while the copy is written, so a desktop or laptop is the better place for them.
People usually edit metadata for privacy reasons, so sending the file to a server first would defeat the purpose. Nothing is uploaded: the PDF is read and rewritten by code in this tab, and the privacy page explains how to verify it.