PDF metadata viewer and editor online

How to view and edit PDF metadata

1. Choose a PDF file.
2. The fields below automatically fill in with the file's current title, author, subject, and keywords, and a summary shows page count and creation date.
3. Edit any field you want to change; leave a field as-is to keep its current value.
4. Click Update metadata.
5. Download the updated file and check its properties in a PDF viewer to confirm the changes took effect.

Metadata is descriptive information about the file (title, author, and so on), separate from the visible page content. Changing it does not alter anything a reader sees on the page.

What PDF metadata is and how this tool handles it

Every PDF carries a small block of descriptive metadata alongside its page content: a title, author, subject, keywords, the software that created it, and creation/modification dates. This information doesn't appear on the visible pages, but PDF viewers show it in a "document properties" or "file info" panel, and it is sometimes used by search tools, file managers, and screen readers to describe the document. This tool reads that metadata immediately after you choose a file (so you can see what's currently set), then lets you overwrite the title, author, subject, and keywords fields and save a new copy with your changes.

Best practices

• Check current values before changing them, since the fields are pre-filled automatically; you don't need to know or guess the existing metadata.
• Use a clear, specific title rather than leaving it blank or generic; some PDF viewers display the title in the browser tab or window title bar instead of the file name.
• Separate multiple keywords with commas so each one is stored as a distinct keyword rather than one long phrase.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Confusing metadata with visible content. Changing the title field here does not change any heading or text that appears on the actual pages; it only changes the file's descriptive properties.
• Assuming every viewer displays metadata prominently. Some PDF viewers show the title in the window/tab bar, others show only the file name; results vary by software.
• Leaving sensitive information in metadata unintentionally. If a PDF was created from a template with someone else's name in the author field, check and update it before sharing.

Real-world use cases

• Cleaning up metadata before publishing or sharing a document, replacing a template's placeholder author name with the real one.
• Adding a clear title and keywords to make a PDF easier to find in a file archive or search index.
• Checking a received PDF's creation date and producer software as a quick sanity check on its origin.
• Standardizing metadata across a batch of related documents before archiving them.
• Verifying a downloaded template or generated report actually reflects your organization rather than the vendor's placeholder details, before it goes any further.

Supported formats

Input: a single standard, non-encrypted PDF file. Output: the same PDF with updated title, author, subject, and keyword metadata. Page count, content, and visual appearance are unchanged. Creation and modification dates, and producer/creator software fields, are shown for reference but not editable through this tool.

Worked example: cleaning up a template's leftover metadata

A PDF exported from a company template still has the title "Untitled document," the author "Template User," and no keywords — leftover defaults nobody updated before sending the file. After choosing the file, those exact values appear pre-filled. Updating them to a real title, the actual author's name, and two or three relevant keywords, then clicking Update metadata, produces a copy with clean, accurate metadata while every visible page is completely unchanged.

Limitations

This tool cannot open password-protected or encrypted PDFs. It edits the standard title, author, subject, and keyword fields only; it does not edit creation/modification dates or the producer/creator fields, and it does not remove deeper document-history metadata that some PDF workflows embed (like revision history in certain enterprise document systems). For most everyday needs — fixing a wrong title or author before sharing a file — the supported fields are exactly what matters.

Privacy

Your PDF's metadata is read and updated locally in your browser using the pdf-lib JavaScript library loaded from this site. Files are not uploaded to a server. See the privacy policy for full detail.

Troubleshooting

• If fields don't pre-fill after choosing a file, the file may be password-protected or not a valid PDF; try a different file.
• If a field looks unchanged in your PDF viewer after downloading, some viewers cache document properties from when the file was first opened; close and reopen the file.
• If you need to change page content, not metadata, this tool won't help; metadata and visible content are separate.

Conclusion

Use this tool to check and correct a PDF's title, author, subject, and keywords before sharing or archiving it. It complements the other PDF tools here; metadata changes don't affect what a reader sees on the page, only how the file describes itself.