How to Edit PDF Metadata

PDF metadata is the information stored in a document's Info dictionary — fields like Title, Author, Subject, andKeywords that describe the document rather than appear on its pages. Editing metadata lets you fix a wrong author, add a descriptive title, or set keywords that help organize files on your system. It is also a privacy step: metadata can reveal the author, the originating application, and sometimes edit history, so reviewing it before sharing is worthwhile. IXPDF writes the new values locally in your browser, so your document never leaves your device.

Steps

1. Open the Edit Metadata tool at/tools/edit-metadata/. You will see a dropzone, six metadata fields, and a Run Edit Metadata button.
2. Select your PDF. Drag the file onto the dropzone or click to browse. The selected file name and size appear below. The tool reads and writes a single PDF at a time.
3. Fill in the fields you want to change. The form has six fields (described in detail below). Leave a field blank to keep its existing value — only the fields you fill in are written; the rest stay untouched.
4. Run edit. Click Run Edit Metadata. The worker writes the new values into the PDF's Info dictionary locally and reports progress. The page stays responsive during processing.
5. Download. Click Download result to save the updated PDF. Use Process another file to start over.

What each field means

• Title — the document title. File managers and browser tabs often display this instead of the raw file name, so a clear title makes the file easier to identify.
• Author — the person or organization that authored the document. Useful for attribution and search.
• Subject — a short description of the document's topic or contents.
• Keywords — comma-separated terms that help desktop search and document-management systems index the file, for exampleinvoice, 2026, q3.
• Creator — the application that authored the document (e.g. "Word 2021"). Often set automatically by the originating app.
• Producer — the application that produced the final PDF (e.g. "pdf-lib"). Often different from Creator.

Tips

• Set a clear Title before sharing. Recipients see the title in their PDF viewer's tab and document properties, which is friendlier than an untitled file.
• Keywords are comma-separated. Keep them specific and consistent across related documents so desktop search can group them.
• Metadata is a privacy vector — it can reveal the author, the originating app, and sometimes the edit history. Before sharing a sensitive document, review the fields and clear anything you do not want to expose. SeeWhat Your PDF Metadata Revealsfor what to check.
• Edit metadata as one of the last steps before sharing, after you have merged, watermarked, or compressed. That way the values reflect the final document and you do not overwrite them with a later operation.

Common mistakes

• Expecting page content to change. Metadata is descriptive information about the document, not the visible content on pages. Editing the title does not add a title to any page.
• Confusing Creator and Producer. Creator is the application that authored the document; Producer is the application that produced the final PDF. They are often different and both are legitimate to edit.
• Forgetting metadata persists across copies. When you share the edited PDF, the new metadata travels with it. If privacy matters, clear the sensitive fields before sharing rather than after.
• Expecting metadata to affect search ranking. PDF metadata helps local file search and document management, but it is not a ranking signal for web search engines. Edit it for human readability and organization, not SEO.