Title
A human-readable name for the document. Different from the filename — the Title is what shows in the PDF reader's window title bar and tab. Often the only metadata users see, so leaving it blank or wrong looks unprofessional.
Free PDF Metadata Viewer & Remover
Inspect what's hidden inside your PDFs — Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, original Creator, Producer software and timestamps — then edit or strip it with one click. 100% private: everything runs in your browser.
- Files stay on your device
- Instant — no upload wait
- Free, no signup
- Edit · Remove · Download
Drop a PDF here
or click to choose a file from your device
PDF files only · up to 100 MB
document.pdf
Processing happens entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
How to view, edit and remove PDF metadata
- Drop a PDF. Any PDF — invoices, contracts, scanned documents, ebooks.
- Inspect what's inside. Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, Producer, page count and timestamps.
- Edit fields or remove everything. Save edits with new values, or strip metadata entirely. Pages, text and images stay untouched.
What is PDF metadata — and why does it matter?
Every PDF carries hidden information in its document info dictionary and often a separate XMP metadata stream. This data tells anyone who opens the file who created it, when, with what software — sometimes even the original filename and edit history.
What's hidden in your PDF
- Title and Subject the author set
- Author name (often a real person, not a company)
- Keywords used for indexing
- Creator: the app that generated the PDF (e.g. Word, Pages, Photoshop)
- Producer: the PDF engine used to write it
- Creation and last-modified timestamps
- XMP fields: edit history, copyright, custom properties
Why this matters
- Job applications and resumes can leak the original applicant or template author
- Legal and contract PDFs may reveal which lawyer or paralegal drafted them
- Anonymous tips and whistleblowing — metadata identifies the source
- White-label or resale work — metadata reveals the original vendor
- Forensic analysis — timestamps and software versions tell a story
Common PDF metadata fields explained
Here's what each field means and where the PDF reader displays it.
Author
The person or organisation that created the document. This is one of the highest-leak fields — many writers don't realise it's set automatically from their operating system's user account, exposing real names.
Subject
A short description of the document's topic, used by indexing tools. Mostly for internal cataloguing.
Keywords
Comma-separated tags to help search engines and document management systems find the file. Useful for SEO when publishing PDFs publicly.
Creator
The application that created the original document — e.g. Microsoft Word, Pages, LaTeX, Photoshop. This often gives away your workflow and platform.
Producer
The library or driver that wrote the actual PDF bytes — e.g. Adobe PDF Library, macOS Quartz, iText, wkhtmltopdf. Different from Creator: a Word document might have Creator Microsoft Word and Producer Adobe Acrobat.
Creation Date / Modification Date
UTC timestamps for when the PDF was first generated and last saved. Useful as evidence — but trivially editable, so don't rely on them for forensic certainty.
Frequently asked questions
Is the PDF metadata tool really free?
Yes — completely free, no signup, no watermark. The full PDF (including pages and content) downloads as a clean copy.
Are my PDFs uploaded to a server?
No. The tool runs as JavaScript in your browser using pdf-lib. Everything happens locally on your device.
Will the PDF content (pages, text, images) change?
No. Only the metadata fields are modified. Pages, text, fonts, images, links and form fields are byte-identical to the original.
Does this remove XMP metadata as well?
Yes. Remove All Metadata clears both the standard document info dictionary and the XMP metadata stream.
Can I work with password-protected PDFs?
Encrypted PDFs need to be unlocked first. Try a free unlock tool, then come back to clean metadata.
What about batch cleaning many PDFs?
This free tool handles one PDF at a time. For batch metadata cleaning across folders — and AI-powered renaming based on PDF content — use the FilesDesk desktop app.
Need to clean and rename PDFs in bulk?
FilesDesk strips metadata across whole folders and renames PDFs by reading the content inside — invoice numbers, dates, contract names — automatically.
Try FilesDesk free