Looking for the best free PDF metadata editor? This guide shows how to view, edit and remove a PDF’s title, author, subject, keywords, dates and hidden properties for free, in your browser, without uploading the file. It also explains what makes the best PDF metadata editor for your job, how the common alternatives compare, and how to fix the problems people hit most: old titles that won’t go away, names leaking from a file, and metadata on hundreds of documents.
Edit Your PDF Metadata Now
- Add your PDF: drop it on the box, or up to 20 files at once.
- Edit the fields: title, author, subject, keywords, dates, language, custom properties.
- Save & verify: every change is read back from the new file.
- Download the edited copy, or a ZIP for several files.
Free, no sign-up, no watermark. Your PDF is edited in your browser and never leaves your device.
Quick Answer
How do I edit PDF metadata for free? Open the PDF Metadata Editor and add your PDF. Its current properties appear at once. Change the title, author, subject or keywords, select Save & verify, check the table of original, proposed and saved values, and download yourfile-edited.pdf. Your original isn’t changed.
How do I remove all metadata? Select Privacy mode: remove all metadata, check the list of what will go, confirm and save.
What Is PDF Metadata?
PDF metadata is information about a document that’s stored inside the file but not printed on its pages: its title, who wrote it, what it’s about, which program made it and when. Viewers show it under File › Properties; search engines, libraries and document systems use it to label and find the file. A PDF can keep it in three places:
| Where | What it holds | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|
| Info dictionary | Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, creation and modification dates | Almost every PDF viewer |
| XMP metadata | The same properties as XML, plus document IDs, edit history and PDF/A details | Newer apps, asset managers, search tools; required for PDF/A |
| Custom properties | Extra keys apps add, such as Company, Department or a document number | Document management systems and some viewers |
The Info dictionary and XMP can disagree. That is the most common reason a title “won’t change”: one copy was updated and the app you use reads the other.
How to Edit PDF Metadata in 4 Steps
- Add your PDF. Open the PDF Metadata Editor and drop one PDF, or up to 20. The metadata summary shows every value the file holds and where it’s stored.
- Edit the title, author, subject and keywords. Type the new values, or select Clear to empty a field and Restore to bring back the original. Separate several authors with semicolons.
- Choose XMP, custom fields or privacy mode. Keep Update the XMP metadata to match on so every app shows the same values, add custom properties and the document language, or use privacy mode to remove what you don’t want to share.
- Save, verify and download. Select Save & verify. The new PDF is reopened and each field read back; compare the original, proposed and saved values, then select Download PDF.
Nothing changes until you save. Every edit is listed under Your changes. Undo and Redo (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y) step through them, and Undo everything starts again.
How to Remove Metadata from a PDF (Privacy)
Word fills in the author from your account, the producer names your software and version, the dates show when you worked on the file, and XMP can carry an edit history and IDs that link copies of the same document. Before you send a PDF to a client, a court or the public, remove what you don’t want to share.
- Add the PDF and select Privacy mode: remove all metadata.
- Read the list: title, author, subject, keywords, creator, producer, dates, custom properties, the XMP packet, page thumbnails and the document ID, each with its current value.
- Select Mark these items for clearing, then Save & verify.
- The report shows what was cleared, and warns you if an old value still appears anywhere else in the file, such as a bookmark or a comment.
PDF/A files must keep their XMP, so it’s emptied instead of removed. Metadata isn’t the only place a name can hide: comments, form values, attachments and the visible text need Clean PDF and Redact PDF. For a deeper look at removal, read How to Remove PDF Metadata.
Best PDF Metadata Editor Compared
The best PDF metadata editor is the one that edits both places a PDF keeps its properties, lets you remove as well as change them, shows you what was actually saved, and doesn’t need your file on someone else’s server. Here’s how the usual options compare.
| PDFCherry | Adobe Acrobat Pro | macOS Preview | Typical online editors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Yes | No, subscription | Yes, with macOS | Often, with limits |
| No upload | Yes, edited in your browser | Yes, desktop app | Yes, desktop app | Usually uploaded to a server |
| Edit title and author | Yes | Yes | No (keywords only) | Usually |
| Batch editing | Up to 20 files, ZIP, CSV import | Yes (Action Wizard) | No | Sometimes |
| Edit XMP | Standard fields kept in step; others shown | Yes | No | Rarely |
| Custom fields | Add, edit, remove | Yes | No | Varies |
| No sign-up | Yes | Adobe account | Yes | Sometimes required |
| Watermark on the result | None | None | None | Sometimes |
If you already pay for Acrobat Pro, it does the job. If you don’t, or the file is confidential, a free in-browser editor covers the same everyday tasks without a subscription or an upload.
Best Metadata for Kindle, KDP, Apple Books and Archives
Kindle Direct Publishing and Apple Books take the title, author and description from the details you type when you publish, not from the PDF. The PDF’s own metadata still matters wherever the file itself goes: readers’ apps, library and document systems, and search engines, which can show a PDF’s title in results.
- Title: the full title as on the cover, with any subtitle after a colon. Never the file name.
- Author: the name readers know, exactly as on the cover; several authors separated by semicolons.
- Subject: one sentence on what the document covers.
- Keywords: five to ten terms readers would search for, separated by commas.
- Language: a tag such as en-GB, so e-readers and screen readers read the text correctly.
- Archives: a consistent title pattern, the real creation date and a document or case number as a custom property; keep XMP in step for PDF/A.
- Before publishing: clear your personal details from the creator, producer and custom properties.
How to Edit Metadata in Word, Acrobat, macOS Preview and Google Drive
Microsoft Word
Before exporting, open File › Info › Properties and set the title, tags, subject and author; Word copies them into the PDF. Once the PDF exists, Word can’t change its metadata without exporting again.
Adobe Acrobat
Acrobat Pro edits the title, author, subject and keywords under File › Properties › Description, has a Custom tab, and shows XMP under Additional Metadata. The free Acrobat Reader only displays them.
macOS Preview
The Inspector (Tools › Show Inspector) shows the title, author, software and dates and lets you add keywords, but not change the title or author. Use the PDF Metadata Editor in Safari or Chrome instead.
Google Drive
Drive can’t change the metadata inside a PDF; a description added in Drive stays in Drive and isn’t saved into the file. Download the PDF, edit it, and upload the new copy.
Editing Many PDFs at Once
Add up to 20 PDFs together, then use whichever of these fits:
- Apply to several files: type a shared author, subject or keywords once and choose the files. Use
{n}for a running number and{name}for the file name, soBoard minutes {n}gives “Board minutes 1”, “Board minutes 2” and so on. - Presets: save a standard set of values, such as your company’s author, keywords and custom properties, and apply it to one file or every file. Presets stay in your browser.
- Find & replace: change an old company or author name in every field of every file in one go.
- CSV or JSON: select Export CSV, fill in the spreadsheet (dates as YYYY-MM-DD) and import it. Rows are matched to your PDFs by file name, and empty cells leave a field as it is.
Save them together, check each file’s results, and download one by one or as a ZIP. For more than 20 files, work in batches of 20.
Common Problems and How to Fix Them
My PDF still shows the old title or author
Check the verification table: it shows what the saved file holds in both the Info dictionary and XMP. If both are new, the viewer is showing a cached value or the file name. Close and reopen the downloaded copy, not the original, or try another viewer. If XMP still shows the old value, turn on Update the XMP metadata to match and save again.
“Some document properties differ between the standard PDF information dictionary and XMP metadata”
Common in files edited by several programs, and not a security problem. In Do the two metadata sources agree?, choose the value to keep; it’s then saved to both.
My name or company shows in the PDF properties
Use privacy mode, or clear the author and check the creator, producer and custom properties such as Company. Find & replace removes a name from every field at once.
“This PDF requires a password or uses restrictions that prevent the requested operation.”
Encrypted PDFs aren’t opened here. If you know the password, remove it with Unlock PDF, edit the copy and protect it again with Protect PDF. Otherwise ask the owner for an editable copy; the editor never bypasses protection.
“This PDF appears to be damaged.” or “The file could not be recognized as a valid PDF.”
The first means the file couldn’t be read completely: try Repair PDF or export it again. The second means it isn’t a PDF at all, often a Word or image file renamed to .pdf: export it to PDF from the app that made it.
The XMP metadata couldn’t be read
The packet isn’t well-formed or uses an unusual compression. You can still edit the standard fields, which are saved in the Info dictionary, and the unreadable XMP is left as it was. To stop apps reading its old values, remove it with privacy mode.
“This PDF is too big for your browser right now.”
Editing happens on your device, so very large files need plenty of memory. Close other tabs, use a computer instead of a phone, or compress the PDF first.
A date won’t import from my spreadsheet
Write dates as YYYY-MM-DD, optionally with a time such as 2024-01-31T14:30. The import message names each row and value it couldn’t use; the rest of the row is still applied.
“The edited file did not pass metadata verification.”
The saved copy didn’t read back exactly as requested, so it isn’t offered for download and your original is untouched. Try again; if it keeps failing, repair the PDF or export it again.
A signed PDF warns that the signature will break
A digital signature covers the file’s exact bytes, so any edit means it won’t validate in the edited copy. You have to confirm before saving; your original keeps its valid signature.
Why In-Browser Editing Matters for Privacy
People edit metadata precisely because a file is sensitive, yet most online PDF tools upload the file to a server and keep it for a while. Here the PDF is read, edited, saved and checked by your own browser and never leaves your device. There’s no account, presets stay in your browser, and only anonymous usage is counted, never file names or values. The one exception is the basic form for browsers with JavaScript turned off, which uploads the file and deletes it automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free PDF metadata editor?
One that edits both the Info dictionary and XMP, removes metadata as well as changing it, works without uploading your file, and shows what was actually saved. The PDFCherry PDF Metadata Editor does all four for free, with no sign-up and no watermark.
What is the best PDF metadata editor for professionals?
Adobe Acrobat Pro is thorough but paid. For titles, authors, keywords, dates, custom properties, XMP, privacy cleanup and batches of up to 20 files with CSV import, a free in-browser editor covers the same everyday work.
How do I edit PDF metadata without Adobe?
Open the PDF Metadata Editor in any browser, add the PDF, change the fields and download the edited copy. No Acrobat, account or software is needed.
How do I remove the author name from a PDF?
Add the PDF, select Clear next to Author and save. It’s removed from both the Info dictionary and XMP, and the report confirms the old name is gone from the metadata. Check the creator, producer and custom properties too, or use privacy mode.
Can I edit PDF metadata offline?
The editing happens on your device, but you need to open the page online first; there’s no installable offline app. Once your PDF is open, nothing is sent anywhere.
Can I batch edit PDF metadata?
Yes, up to 20 PDFs at a time, with shared values, numbered titles, presets, find and replace, and CSV or JSON import. Download the results one by one or as a ZIP.
Can I edit XMP metadata in a PDF?
Yes for the standard properties: title, creator, description, keywords, creator tool, producer and dates are updated in XMP to match your changes, and XMP edit history can be removed. Other XMP properties are shown and kept as they are.
How do I remove the creation date from a PDF?
Clear the creation date, and the modification date if you like, then save. Both copies, in the Info dictionary and XMP, are removed.
Can I edit the metadata of a scanned PDF?
Yes. Metadata lives in the file, not in the page images, so a scan is edited exactly like any other PDF.
How do I change the title and author of a PDF on a Mac?
Preview shows them but can’t change them. Open the PDF Metadata Editor in Safari or Chrome, add the PDF, type the new title and author, and download the copy.
Does editing metadata change the file?
Only its properties. You download a new copy named yourfile-edited.pdf; the original isn’t touched, and the verification report confirms the pages, text and form fields are unchanged.
Is it safe to edit PDF metadata online?
With an in-browser editor, yes: the PDF is never uploaded, so nobody else receives a copy. Check where a tool processes files before you use it for anything confidential.
Can I add custom properties to a PDF?
Yes. Add any name and value, such as DocumentNumber or Department, edit existing ones or remove them. They’re saved in the Info dictionary.
Does removing metadata make a PDF anonymous?
No. It clears document properties, but names can remain in the visible text, comments, form fields, attachments and images. Use Redact PDF and Clean PDF for those.
Related Free Tools
- PDF Metadata Editor: everything in this guide.
- Remove PDF Metadata: strip metadata, including from images on the pages.
- Merge PDF and Split PDF: combine or divide the edited files.
- Compress PDF: make it smaller before emailing.
- Rotate PDF and Add Page Numbers: fix and finish the pages.
- Protect PDF: add a password before you share it.
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