Edit PDF Metadata

Edit PDF metadata (title, author, subject, keywords) without re-saving. Free, no signup, browser-based.

About PDF Metadata Editor

PDF Metadata Editor reads and rewrites the metadata fields embedded in any PDF — Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, Creation Date, and Modification Date — using PDF-lib's document-level manipulation API, entirely in your browser. PDF metadata travels invisibly with every document you share. The Author field often contains your real name from your OS user profile. The Creator field reveals which software you used. Keywords can expose confidential project code names. This tool surfaces all of it and lets you edit or clear each field before sharing. Beyond the Document Information Dictionary, this tool also reads and edits the XMP metadata stream — the XML-based metadata packet embedded in the PDF/A and PDF/X variants used in publishing and archiving workflows. Both the legacy DID and the modern XMP stream are kept in sync after editing to prevent viewer inconsistency.

Most PDF viewers show only the basic Document Information Dictionary (the 7 legacy fields). This tool also surfaces the XMP metadata packet, which contains Dublin Core fields (dc:creator, dc:description, dc:rights, dc:subject) that the Document Information Dictionary doesn't cover and that many "metadata cleaners" miss entirely. The hex-format date parser converts PDF date strings (D:20240315143022+05'30') into human-readable form for editing and converts back on save.

Key Features

Reads and edits all 8 Document Information Dictionary fields: Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, CreationDate, ModDate
XMP metadata stream editing — reads the embedded XML, updates dc:creator, dc:description, dc:rights, and xmp:MetadataDate
PDF date format handling — parses "D:20240315143022+05'30'" into readable datetime fields and converts back on save
Bulk-clear mode — remove all metadata in one click for privacy-sensitive sharing
Metadata diff view — shows before/after comparison of all changed fields before downloading
Displays document statistics: page count, file size, PDF version, encryption status, and form field presence
Preserves all page content, forms, annotations, bookmarks, and interactive elements unchanged
Client-side PDF-lib processing — no upload, metadata not sent to any server

How to Use Edit PDF Metadata

Step 1: Upload your PDF — the tool reads all Document Information Dictionary and XMP metadata fields
Step 2: Edit any field in the metadata form (or click "Clear All Metadata" to wipe everything)
Step 3: Review the diff view showing exactly what changed
Step 4: Click Save Metadata — PDF-lib writes the updated DID and XMP fields into the PDF structure
Step 5: Download the metadata-edited PDF

Who Uses This Tool

Authors removing their real name from the Author field before distributing anonymous review submissions
Businesses scrubbing internal code names, employee names, and software versions from PDFs before client delivery
Legal teams standardizing metadata across all documents in a production batch for court filing
Publishers updating Title, Subject, and Keywords metadata to match SEO metadata on digital book files
Privacy-conscious individuals removing all metadata from personal documents before email attachment
IT administrators auditing what metadata is embedded in PDFs created by their organization's authoring tools

Why Choose PDF AI Tools

We've built PDF AI Tools to replace expensive desktop software like Adobe Acrobat for 95% of common document workflows — at zero cost to you. Unlike competitors who gate features behind paywalls, add watermarks, or limit file sizes, our tools are genuinely free and genuinely unlimited. Your privacy matters: files processed client-side in your browser never touch our servers, and even AI-powered features use encrypted, auto-deleting processing pipelines.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my PDF show my personal name in the Author field?

Most Office applications (Word, Excel, LibreOffice) automatically insert the OS user account name as the Author when saving to PDF. This is set in File → Options → General → User name in Word. After saving, this tool lets you change or clear it without re-authoring the document.

What is the difference between Creator and Producer in PDF metadata?

Creator is the application that originally created the source content (e.g. "Microsoft Word 16.0"). Producer is the software that converted the file to PDF (e.g. "Adobe PDF Library 23.1.175"). Both fields can reveal internal software versions and workflows that you may not want disclosed to recipients.

Does clearing metadata affect document content?

No — metadata is stored in the Document Information Dictionary and XMP stream, completely separate from the page content streams, fonts, images, and interactive forms. Clearing metadata does not alter the visual appearance or functionality of the document.

What is XMP metadata?

XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) is an Adobe-developed XML-based metadata standard embedded as a binary stream in PDF files. It contains a superset of the legacy Document Information Dictionary fields plus Dublin Core (dc:*), Rights Management (xmpRights:*), and publishing metadata. PDF/A and PDF/X variants require XMP; plain PDFs may have it optionally.

Will this tool preserve digital signatures?

Editing metadata invalidates any existing digital signatures because signatures cover the entire PDF byte stream including the metadata. Remove digital signatures before editing metadata, then re-sign after editing if a valid signature is required.