PDF Metadata Viewer and Editor
View and edit title, author, subject, keywords, creator, and dates. Processed in your browser, files never upload anywhere.
How to View and Edit PDF Metadata
Upload your PDF and its current metadata appears instantly in editable fields: title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer, and both dates. Change any value, clear any field you want removed, set dates with the picker, then click Save Metadata and Download PDF. The tool rewrites the file with your new properties and leaves every page untouched. Verify the result by opening the downloaded file's document properties in your reader.
Choose your PDF file. Current metadata loads into the form automatically.
Edit the fields you want to change. Clear a field entirely to remove that value.
Set the creation or modification date with the picker, or leave them to keep the originals.
Click Save Metadata and Download PDF, then check the new file's properties to confirm.
Why Metadata Deserves Attention
Metadata is the first impression your file makes in systems you never see. Search engines and document libraries index the title and keywords, so a report titled "Q3 Sales Report 2026" is findable while one titled "Document1" is invisible. Browser tabs show the metadata title, and a leftover "Microsoft Word" title on a client proposal looks sloppy. On the privacy side, author fields routinely carry full names, creator fields name the exact software and version, and dates reveal when work really happened. Journalists, lawyers, and job seekers clean these fields as a matter of routine before publishing or submitting documents. A thirty second metadata pass is one of the cheapest professionalism upgrades available.
Dates and Empty Fields
PDF dates include time and timezone in a standard format, and the tool translates them into your local date and time picker and back without you thinking about the encoding. Clearing the picker leaves the original date untouched; there is no way to delete a PDF date through the standard properties, only to change it. For text fields, an emptied box removes the property from the file entirely, which is what you want when scrubbing identity. Keywords are stored as a single comma separated string, so "report, sales, 2026" works as expected. Producer names the tool that last wrote the file; editing it is allowed but rarely needed, since saving naturally updates it to reflect this editor.
Privacy and Safety
Everything runs locally in your browser with pdf-lib: the file is parsed, the properties are rewritten, and the new PDF is assembled without any network transfer. No server sees your document, nothing is logged, and closing the tab leaves no trace. Because the operation only touches the information dictionary, there is no risk to your page content, fonts, or images. The one honest caveat is that metadata scrubbing is not a full anonymization: embedded images may carry their own EXIF data and some exports keep hidden revision history, so for maximum privacy review the final file in a reader's document properties panel before distributing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PDF metadata and why does it matter?
Metadata is the document information stored inside a PDF: its title, author, subject, keywords, the program that created it, and the creation and modification dates. Readers and operating systems display these properties in file info panels, search tools index the title and keywords, and recipients judge a document's professionalism by them. Cleaning metadata before sharing also protects privacy, since author names and software fingerprints can leak personal details.
Which metadata fields can I edit?
You can edit the title, author, subject, keywords, creator, and producer fields as plain text, and you can set the creation and modification dates with a date and time picker. Clearing a field removes that value from the document properties. Dates are stored in the PDF's standard date format, and the tool converts between that format and the picker automatically.
Why does my PDF show the wrong title in the browser tab?
Many PDF viewers display the document's metadata title instead of the filename. If the title field is empty or holds a leftover value like "Microsoft Word - Document1", that is what the tab shows. Setting a proper title here fixes the tab label in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, and it also improves how the file appears in search results and document libraries.
Will editing metadata change my document content?
No. Metadata lives in the document information dictionary, completely separate from the page content. Editing it touches no text, images, fonts, or layout on any page. The tool rewrites the file with updated properties only, so every page renders exactly as before. Your original file is never modified; you download a new copy with the changes.
Can I remove my name from a PDF before sharing it?
Yes. Clear the author field and any identifying text in the creator field, then save. Also check the title and subject for personal details, and consider updating the creation date if the timeline matters. Note that metadata is only one place identity can hide: scanned documents can carry EXIF data in embedded images, and Word exports sometimes keep revision comments, so review the file in your reader's document properties panel after saving.
Is my file uploaded anywhere during this process?
No. The PDF is read and rewritten entirely in your browser using the pdf-lib library. Your document and its metadata never leave your device, nothing is stored or logged, and no account is required. This makes the tool safe for confidential reports, legal documents, and manuscripts you do not want passing through third party servers.