Edit PDF Metadata Online Free — Title, Author, Keywords
View and change a PDF's title, author, subject and keywords — or strip them out entirely. Pages stay untouched and nothing is uploaded.
Updated July 2026 · Reviewed by the PDFWix Team
Open a PDF in a browser and the tab often shows something strange: a file path, a template name, or the name of whoever first created the document years ago. That comes from the PDF's document properties, a small block of hidden information that travels with the file into search engines, document management systems and anyone's Downloads folder. PDFWix Edit PDF Metadata shows you exactly what is in there and lets you rewrite it or clear it out.
To edit PDF metadata free: open PDFWix Edit PDF Metadata and add your PDF — its current title, author, subject and keywords load automatically. Type the new values and click Save details, or switch on Remove every detail to clear them all. The pages are not changed.
The current title, author and keywords load automatically
Add a PDF and its current title, author, subject and keywords will appear here, ready to edit.
The document details are read and rewritten inside this browser tab. Page content, fonts and text stay exactly as they were.
Free account keeps your last 30 jobs (filename + tool only — never your files) so you can re-find them later.
🔒 Browser-side processing · Never uploaded · 100% free
What PDF metadata is, and why it matters
Every PDF carries a small set of labels about itself. Title is used by browsers for the tab name and by Google for search snippets when a PDF ranks. Author and Creator usually record the person and the program that made the file. Producer names the software that wrote the PDF, Subject is a one-line description, and Keywords feed desktop search, intranets and document management systems. None of this is visible on the page, which is exactly why it gets overlooked. That makes metadata both an SEO opportunity and a privacy risk. A clear, keyword-appropriate Title gives a public PDF a far better chance in search results than "Microsoft Word - final draft 3.docx". Equally, sending a client a proposal that still names an internal template, a former employer or a colleague's user account is an easy mistake to avoid. If the visible page content also needs cleaning, Redact PDF blacks out text on the page and Flatten PDF locks filled form answers so they cannot be changed.
How to edit PDF metadata
- 1
Add your PDF
Drop the file in. Its current title, author, subject, keywords, creator and producer appear straight away.
- 2
Edit the fields
Type the new title, author, subject and comma-separated keywords. Leave a field empty to clear it.
- 3
Or clear everything
Switch on Remove every detail to wipe all six fields and reset the creation date.
- 4
Save
Click Save details. The new PDF downloads with identical pages and updated properties.
Tips for editing PDF properties
Write the title like a headline
Use the document's real name, not a file name — this is what browsers and Google display.
Keywords are comma-separated
Five to ten specific terms work better than a long list of near-duplicates.
Metadata is not redaction
Clearing properties does not remove anything printed on the page — use Redact PDF for that.
Check the result
Reopen the file here, or view its text with PDF to Text & Markdown, to confirm the change.
6 plus dates
Fields you can edit
None
Page content changed
100% in your browser
Processing
Results measured on a sample of 500 PDFs across scanned documents, photo portfolios, and office reports.
Ways to change PDF document properties
| Method | Cost | Uploads your file | Keeps text vector | Bulk clearing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDFWix Edit PDF Metadata | Free | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✓ One switch |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro | Paid subscription | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | Per file |
| Online metadata editors | Free with limits | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | Varies |
| Print to PDF again | Free | ✗ No | Often rasterised | Loses bookmarks |
Comparing metadata editing options.
Why use PDFWix to edit PDFs?
Rewriting the properties is a tiny change that fixes how your document is seen everywhere.
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Better search snippets. A real Title helps a public PDF rank and read properly in Google results and browser tabs.
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Privacy clean-up. Remove the author name, user account and originating software before sending a file outside your company.
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Pages are never re-rendered. Text stays selectable and searchable, fonts stay embedded, forms keep working.
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Confidential by design. Contracts and medical records are rewritten inside your browser, never uploaded.
Cleaning a document before you send it? Pair this with Flatten PDF to lock form answers, Redact PDF to black out visible text, and Compress PDF to shrink the final file.
Preparing a document to send out? Flatten PDF locks the answers in a filled form, Redact PDF hides sensitive text and Compress PDF makes it email-friendly.
Common uses for editing PDFs
- Giving a public PDF a proper title so Google shows a clean search result
- Removing a former employee's or previous client's name from a reused template
- Fixing a browser tab that shows a file path instead of a document name
- Adding keywords so a document is findable in an intranet or DMS
- Stripping application details from files before publishing them
Frequently asked questions
How do I edit PDF metadata for free?
Open PDFWix Edit PDF Metadata, add the PDF, change the title, author, subject or keywords and click Save details. It runs in your browser and costs nothing.
How do I change the title that shows in the browser tab?
The tab usually shows the PDF's Title property. Set it here and save, and the tab name follows.
Can I remove all metadata from a PDF?
Yes. Switch on Remove every detail and the title, author, subject, keywords, creator and producer are all cleared.
Does editing metadata change my pages?
No. Only the document properties are rewritten. Text, images, fonts, bookmarks and form fields stay exactly as they were.
Does this remove hidden text or comments from the page?
No. For content printed on the page use Redact PDF, and for form answers use Flatten PDF.
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. The file is opened and rewritten inside this browser tab.
More PDF tools
Flatten PDF
Lock form fields, signatures and annotations into uneditable pages.
Redact PDF
Black out sensitive information from a PDF.
Compress PDF
Reduce file size while keeping the best quality possible.
PDF to Text & Markdown
Extract PDF text as clean Markdown or plain text for AI prompts and notes.