PDF Metadata Editor

How do I view and edit a PDF’s metadata — title, author, subject and keywords — or strip it all out for privacy, without uploading the file?

Open the PDF Metadata Editor, drop a PDF onto the page, and the tool instantly reads its document properties in your browser: title, author, subject, keywords, creator application, PDF producer and the creation and modification dates, alongside a thumbnail and technical facts like page count, PDF version, page size, encryption and whether the file has forms or bookmarks. Edit any field inline, clear individual fields, or tick “Strip All Metadata” to wipe every property before sharing, then press Save and download a new PDF as name-metadata.pdf. Everything runs on your device with pdf-lib and pdf.js — the file is never uploaded — and you can also export the metadata as JSON or copy it to the clipboard.

Reads and edits the standard Document Information fields: Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, Creation Date and Modification Date
One-tick “Strip All Metadata” removes every property — ideal for scrubbing author names and edit dates before sending a file
A Document Info tab shows page count, PDF version, page size, encryption, Fast Web View, forms and bookmarks; export the lot as JSON
Runs 100% in your browser with pdf-lib and pdf.js — no upload, no server, no account — and downloads as name-metadata.pdf
Per-field Remove and Copy buttons, “changed from” indicators and a Restore Original action make edits safe and reversible

What is

PDF Metadata

PDF metadata — also called document properties — is descriptive information stored inside a PDF that describes the file itself rather than its visible pages. A PDF carries two parallel metadata systems: the classic Document Information Dictionary (the /Info entry in the trailer) holding /Title, /Author, /Subject, /Keywords, /Creator (the authoring app such as Microsoft Word or desktop publishing software), /Producer (the library that wrote the PDF, such as Acrobat Distiller or pdfTeX), /CreationDate and /ModDate; and the newer major desktop suites XMP metadata stream (referenced by /Metadata in the catalog), an RDF/XML packet that carries the same fields plus Dublin Core and edit-history data. This tool reads and edits the Document Information fields with the pdf-lib library and surfaces extra technical facts with pdf.js, all entirely in the browser, so you can correct a wrong title, set an author, add searchable keywords, or strip everything out for privacy without the document ever leaving your device.

PDF Tools

Related terms

PDFdocument propertiesmetadataDocument Information DictionaryInfo dictionaryXMPtitleauthorsubjectkeywordscreatorproducercreation datemodification datestrip metadatapdf-libpdf.jsclient-sideprivacy

Frequently Asked Questions

Nothing is uploaded. When you drop a PDF, the browser File API reads it into memory, pdf-lib parses the document-information dictionary for editing and pdf.js extracts extra details and renders the thumbnail, all on your own machine. When you save, pdf-lib writes a new PDF in the tab and hands it back from a local Blob for download; no bytes are sent anywhere. That matters because the documents whose metadata you edit — contracts, reports, scans, résumés — often carry author names and internal dates you would not want to hand to a cloud service. There is no login, tracking or CDN in the processing path, the tool works offline once cached, and closing the tab discards everything.

No. The PDF is read and rewritten entirely in your browser, so the file never leaves your device — there is no upload, server or account.

PDF metadata can quietly reveal the original author’s name, a full timeline of creation and edit dates, and the exact software used to make the file — details that were never meant to leave your organisation. To scrub them, load the PDF, open the Advanced tab and enable “Strip All Metadata”: on save the tool empties Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator and Producer and actively deletes the CreationDate and ModDate entries from the info dictionary, then downloads a clean copy. You can also clear fields one at a time on the Edit tab with each field’s Remove button. This removes the standard document-information properties; note that an embedded XMP metadata packet is a separate stream, so for maximum assurance verify the result in your PDF reader’s properties dialog.

Open the Advanced tab and tick “Strip All Metadata”, then Save — that clears the title, author, subject, keywords, creator and producer and deletes the creation and modification dates.

The Edit tab exposes the eight standard Document Information fields — Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator application, PDF Producer, and the Creation and Modification dates (set with a date-time picker or cleared to remove them). The Title is what a browser tab and search results display; Author records who wrote the document; Subject and Keywords aid searchability and indexing; Creator and Producer name the authoring app and the PDF-writing library. When you save, pdf-lib rewrites these values into the file’s information dictionary, so opening the new PDF and checking File → Properties (Ctrl-D in Acrobat) shows your updates. A Document Info tab additionally reports read-only facts — page count, PDF version, page size in millimetres, encryption, Fast Web View, forms and bookmarks — that you can copy but not change here.

You can edit Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, Creation Date and Modification Date; the saved file’s properties update in Acrobat, Chrome, Preview and other readers.

PDF Metadata Editor is completely free with no account, watermark or limit, and because it is 100% client-side it works in any modern browser on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows, macOS or Linux with no app to install. Beyond editing, the Advanced tab lets you Download as JSON — a structured file combining the metadata fields with the document facts — or Copy All to Clipboard as plain text, which is handy for cataloguing documents or filing bug reports. Quick actions can stamp the Creator and Producer, clear every field at once, or restore the original values you loaded. One PDF is processed at a time and the practical ceiling is your device’s memory, so a very large file is bounded by available RAM.

Yes. It is free and runs in any modern mobile or desktop browser, and you can export the metadata as a JSON file or copy every field to the clipboard.

A 100% client-side PDF Metadata Editor that reads, edits and strips a PDF’s document properties entirely in your browser, with no upload. Drop a PDF and the tool instantly parses its Document Information dictionary with pdf-lib and pulls extra detail with pdf.js: it shows a page thumbnail and lets you edit eight standard fields — Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator application, PDF Producer, Creation Date and Modification Date — with inline help, per-field Remove and Copy buttons and “changed from” indicators so every edit is clear and reversible. A Document Info tab surfaces read-only facts (file size, page count, PDF version, page size in millimetres, encryption, Fast Web View / linearization, forms and bookmarks), and an Advanced tab adds a one-tick “Strip All Metadata” that empties the text fields and deletes the date entries for privacy, quick actions to stamp Creator/Producer, clear all fields or restore the originals, plus Export Metadata as JSON or Copy All to Clipboard. Saving rewrites the info dictionary and downloads a new file as name-metadata.pdf. Because everything runs on-device with pdf-lib and pdf.js there is no server, account or tracking, and the file is never uploaded — important because document metadata often exposes author names, internal dates and software versions. Honest about scope: it edits the classic Document Information fields; an embedded XMP metadata packet is a parallel stream some viewers read from, so verify in your reader’s properties dialog after stripping.

Features

Edit the eight standard Document Information fields — Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, Creation Date and Modification Date — with inline help and change tracking
One-tick “Strip All Metadata” empties the text fields and deletes the creation and modification dates for privacy before sharing
Document Info tab shows page count, PDF version, page size, encryption, Fast Web View, forms and bookmarks; per-field Remove and Copy buttons throughout
Export the metadata as a JSON file or Copy All to Clipboard; quick actions stamp Creator/Producer, clear all, or restore the original values
Runs entirely in your browser with pdf-lib and pdf.js — no upload, account or limit — and downloads a new PDF as name-metadata.pdf

PriceFree

CategoryPDF Tools

PlatformAll (any modern browser)

PrivacyYour PDF never leaves the device. It is read with the browser File API, parsed and rewritten on-device with pdf-lib, inspected with pdf.js for extra facts and a thumbnail, and downloaded from a local Blob, with no server, upload, database, logging, API or CDN in the processing path. This matters because metadata frequently carries author names, user IDs, edit timelines and software versions that can leak when a document is shared; here the values are edited and stripped locally and nothing is transmitted. There is no login or telemetry, the tool works offline once cached, and closing the tab discards the file and every field; the only optional network use anywhere on the site is consent-gated advertising, which never sees your files.

Input: A single PDF document, dropped onto the page or chosen with the file picker; only application/pdf files are accepted, Encrypted PDFs are loaded with encryption ignored so their properties can still be read and edited where possible, One PDF at a time, read and rewritten in browser memory; the practical ceiling is your device’s RAM

Output: A new PDF with your edited (or stripped) metadata, downloaded as your file name with a -metadata.pdf suffix, An optional JSON export combining the metadata fields with the document facts, or all fields copied to the clipboard as plain text, Generated entirely on your device from a local Blob — nothing uploaded

Detailed Explanation

How It Works

Editing PDF Document Properties in the Browser

PDF Metadata Editor lets you view, edit and strip the document properties of a PDF — the descriptive information a file carries about itself rather than its visible pages. Drop a PDF onto the /pdf-metadata-editor page and it is parsed instantly on your own device: the tool reads the classic Document Information fields (Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, Creation Date and Modification Date) with the pdf-lib library, and uses pdf.js to render a first-page thumbnail and gather extra technical facts. Three tabs organise the work: Edit Metadata for changing the eight standard fields inline, Document Info for read-only details such as page count, PDF version, page size and encryption, and Advanced for one-tick stripping, quick actions and export. When you save, pdf-lib writes the new values into the file’s information dictionary and hands back a fresh PDF for download named with a -metadata.pdf suffix. Nothing is uploaded — the whole read-edit-write cycle happens in the browser tab.

Edits eight standard Document Information fields with pdf-lib; reads extra facts and a thumbnail with pdf.js
Three tabs: Edit Metadata, Document Info (read-only) and Advanced (strip, quick actions, export)
Saving rewrites the info dictionary and downloads a new PDF as name-metadata.pdf
Runs 100% in the browser — no upload, server or account in the processing path

Use Cases

When to Edit or Strip PDF Metadata

People reach for a metadata editor for two broad reasons: to correct or enrich a document’s properties, or to remove them. On the enrich side, setting a proper Title makes the file show a meaningful name in a browser tab and in search results instead of a filename; adding an Author and Subject helps colleagues and document-management systems catalogue the file; and Keywords improve internal searchability. On the privacy side, the more important case, PDF metadata routinely leaks details that were never meant to travel with the file: the original author’s name or computer user ID, a full timeline of creation and modification dates, and the exact software and version used to produce it. Before emailing a contract, publishing a report, submitting a résumé or sharing a scan, the Advanced tab’s “Strip All Metadata” wipes the identifying fields in one step. Because the tool is client-side, you can scrub sensitive documents without uploading the very files you are trying to keep private — a meaningful contrast with cloud metadata editors.

Enrich: set a real Title for tabs and search, add Author, Subject and Keywords for cataloguing
Privacy: strip author names, user IDs, edit timelines and software versions before sharing
Typical files: contracts, reports, résumés, scans, exam papers, published PDFs
Scrub sensitive documents without uploading them — unlike cloud metadata tools

Technical Details

How the Metadata Is Read and Rewritten

When the page loads at /pdf-metadata-editor it renders the PdfMetadata component (src/pages/tools/pdf/PdfMetadata.tsx). You add a PDF by drag-and-drop or the file picker; only application/pdf is accepted. The handler reads the file into an ArrayBuffer, loads it with pdf-lib’s PDFDocument.load using ignoreEncryption so protected files can still be inspected, and pulls the current Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer and the Creation and Modification dates via pdf-lib getters into an editable form. In parallel it opens the same bytes with pdf.js to call getMetadata, render a 200-pixel-wide first-page thumbnail to a canvas, read the outline for a bookmarks flag and inspect the catalog for an AcroForm; the PDF version is sniffed from the file header and page size is converted from points to millimetres. On save, if “Strip All Metadata” is set the tool empties the text fields and deletes the CreationDate and ModDate entries directly from the trailer Info dictionary; otherwise it writes each edited value back, setting dates from the date-time inputs or deleting them when cleared. pdf-lib then serialises the document with save(), the bytes are wrapped in an application/pdf Blob, and the result downloads as name-metadata.pdf — all without a network request.

PDFDocument.load runs with ignoreEncryption so encrypted files can still be read and edited where possible
pdf.js provides getMetadata, the thumbnail, the bookmarks (outline) flag and AcroForm detection
Strip mode deletes CreationDate and ModDate directly from the trailer Info dictionary, not just blanking them
save() serialises the PDF to a Blob downloaded as name-metadata.pdf; no worker round-trip to a server

Limitations

Honest Limitations

A few scope notes keep expectations accurate. First, this tool edits the classic Document Information dictionary (the /Info fields). A PDF can also carry a parallel major desktop suites XMP metadata stream, and some viewers — desktop PDF software in particular — may display or retain values from that XMP packet; so after editing or stripping, verify the result in your reader’s File → Properties dialog for full assurance. Second, the Keywords field is written as a single string rather than being split into individual keyword entries, which is fine for search but differs from tools that store a keyword array. Third, the Document Info tab is read-only: page count, PDF version, page size, encryption, Fast Web View, forms and bookmarks are reported for reference but not editable here, and the encryption and linearization flags are derived heuristically from the parsed info. Fourth, this is a metadata editor, not a content editor — it does not change the pages, text or images. Finally, one PDF is processed at a time and the whole file is held in browser memory, so a very large document is bounded by your device’s RAM, and a corrupt file will surface a clear inline error rather than a broken download.

Edits the /Info dictionary; an embedded XMP stream may still show values in some viewers — verify in the reader’s properties
Keywords are stored as a single string, not split into an array of individual keywords
Document Info fields (version, page size, encryption, forms, bookmarks) are read-only and partly heuristic
Edits metadata only, not page content; one file at a time, bounded by device RAM

Privacy & Security

Privacy: The PDF Stays on Your Device

Editing metadata is often a privacy task in itself — you are removing author names, internal dates and software fingerprints before a document goes out — so it would be self-defeating to upload the file to do it. This tool never does. The PDF is read with the browser File API, parsed and rewritten on your own device with pdf-lib, inspected with pdf.js for the thumbnail and extra facts, and returned from a local Blob for download; there is no server, upload, database, logging, API or CDN anywhere in the processing path. The JSON export and Copy All actions likewise run locally against the in-memory metadata. There is no login and no telemetry, the tool keeps working offline once the page has been cached, and closing the tab discards the file and every field you touched. The only optional network use anywhere on the site is consent-gated advertising, which never sees your files — a real contrast with cloud metadata editors that require you to upload the document you were trying to clean.

File read, edited and packaged entirely in the browser; nothing uploaded
No server, upload, database, API or CDN in the processing path; no login or telemetry
JSON export and Copy All run locally against the in-memory metadata
Works offline once cached; closing the tab discards the file and all edits

PDF Metadata Editor — what it reads, edits and where it stops
Capability	Support	Notes
Editable fields	Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, dates	The eight standard Document Information fields, edited inline with pdf-lib and change tracking
Strip metadata	One-tick “Strip All Metadata”	Empties the text fields and deletes CreationDate and ModDate from the Info dictionary
Document facts	Read-only	Page count, PDF version, page size (mm), encryption, Fast Web View, forms and bookmarks, plus a thumbnail
Export	JSON file or clipboard	Download metadata + facts as JSON, or Copy All to Clipboard as plain text
Metadata system	/Info dictionary	Edits the classic document-information fields; an XMP stream may still show values in some viewers — verify in the reader
Output	name-metadata.pdf	A new PDF serialised by pdf-lib and downloaded from a local Blob
Privacy & scale	In-browser, bounded by RAM	Read, edited and written on-device, one PDF at a time; 100% client-side, no upload

PDF Metadata Editor views, edits and strips a PDF’s document properties entirely in the browser: pdf-lib parses and rewrites the classic Document Information fields (Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, Creation and Modification dates) while pdf.js supplies a thumbnail and read-only facts such as page count, PDF version, page size, encryption, Fast Web View, forms and bookmarks. An Advanced tab strips every field in one tick, offers quick actions and exports the metadata as JSON or to the clipboard, and saving downloads a new file as name-metadata.pdf. It edits the /Info dictionary rather than an embedded XMP stream, so verify stripped files in your reader’s properties dialog; everything runs client-side with nothing uploaded.

Cite This Page

Title: PDF Metadata Editor
Author: AnyTool
Published: January 1, 2026
Modified: February 8, 2026
Section: PDF Tools
URL: https://www.anytool.tech/pdf-metadata-editor

Formatted Citation

AnyTool. "PDF Metadata Editor." AnyTool, January 1, 2026. https://www.anytool.tech/pdf-metadata-editor

A 100% client-side PDF Metadata Editor — the /pdf-metadata-editor route of AnyTool rendered by src/pages/tools/pdf/PdfMetadata.tsx — that views, edits and strips a PDF’s document properties entirely in the browser with no upload, server, API, database or network call, so the file never leaves the device. The user adds a single PDF by drag-and-drop or file picker (only application/pdf is accepted); the handler reads it into an ArrayBuffer, loads it with pdf-lib’s PDFDocument.load using ignoreEncryption so protected files can still be inspected, and reads the eight standard Document Information fields — Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator (authoring app), Producer (PDF-writing library), Creation Date and Modification Date — into an editable form, while pdf.js opens the same bytes to call getMetadata, render a 200-pixel first-page thumbnail to a canvas, read the outline for a bookmarks flag and inspect the catalog for an AcroForm; the PDF version is sniffed from the file header and page size is converted from points to millimetres. Three tabs structure the interface: Edit Metadata for inline editing with per-field help tooltips, Remove and Copy buttons and “changed from” indicators; Document Info for read-only facts (file size, page count, PDF version, page size, created and modified dates, encryption, Fast Web View / linearization, forms and bookmarks); and Advanced, which adds a one-tick “Strip All Metadata” that empties the text fields and deletes the CreationDate and ModDate entries directly from the trailer Info dictionary, quick actions to stamp Creator/Producer, clear all fields or restore the originally loaded values, and an Export Metadata block that downloads a JSON file combining the fields with the document facts or copies everything to the clipboard as plain text. On save, pdf-lib writes the edited values back (setting dates from date-time inputs or deleting them when cleared), serialises the document with save(), wraps the bytes in an application/pdf Blob and downloads it as the original file name with a -metadata.pdf suffix, entirely on-device. The page follows the golden design system: a header with a custom brand icon (PdfMetadataIcon — a teal rounded tile holding a white PDF page with a gold folded corner and key/value property rows, the top field highlighted in coral to signal the active editable value, so the tool reads “edit a PDF’s document properties” at a glance and stays distinct from the generic Tag icon), an upload drop zone, the tabbed editor, a Save action with a success/download view, AdUnits, related-tool links (Compress PDF, Protect PDF, PDF to Text, Merge PDF, Organize PDF, PDF OCR) and shared AEOSection and GEOSection SEO blocks near the foot of the page, with full dark mode and mobile-first responsiveness. It is honest about scope: it edits the classic Document Information dictionary, whereas a PDF can also carry a parallel major desktop suites XMP metadata stream that some viewers (notably desktop PDF software) may still display, so users should verify edited or stripped files in their reader’s File → Properties dialog; the Keywords field is stored as a single string rather than a keyword array; the Document Info fields are read-only and the encryption and linearization flags are derived heuristically; it edits metadata only, not page content; and one PDF is processed at a time, held wholly in browser memory and bounded by device RAM, with a corrupt file surfacing a clear inline error rather than a broken download. Privacy is structural because editing metadata is itself a privacy task — removing author names, user IDs, edit timelines and software versions before a document is shared: the file is read with the File API, parsed and rewritten on-device with pdf-lib, inspected with pdf.js, and downloaded from a local Blob, with no server, upload, database, logging, API or CDN in the path; the JSON export and Copy All actions run locally, there is no login or telemetry, the tool works offline once cached, closing the tab discards everything, and the only optional network use anywhere on the site is consent-gated advertising that never sees the files — a meaningful contrast with cloud metadata editors that require uploading the very document you were trying to clean.

How do I view and edit a PDF&rsquo;s metadata &mdash; title, author, subject and keywords &mdash; or strip it all out for privacy, without uploading the file?