How to edit PDF metadata (title, author and subject)

How to edit PDF metadata: title, author and subject

To edit a PDF's metadata, upload the file, fill in the "Title", "Author" and "Subject" fields (one is enough) and click "Apply and download". The tool writes those values into the document properties and downloads a copy; the content of the pages doesn't change. In most readers, the new title then shows in the tab and in the properties.

What PDF metadata is

Every PDF carries a set of properties inside it: title, author, subject, the program that produced it and the creation and edit dates. They don't appear in the middle of the page, but your PDF reader uses the title to name the tab, and file managers and search tools use these fields to identify the document. This tool edits three of them: title, author and subject.

That's why two similar files can behave differently: one shows "Resume of John Smith" at the top of the reader; the other shows "Document1" or the name of an old template that got baked in. To find out what's currently stored, use the PDF details tool: it shows "Title", "Author", "Subject", "Created in app", "Produced by" and the dates. That inspector, along with the ones for photos, Office, audio, video and ZIP, is covered in how to view a file's metadata.

What the tool does (and what it doesn't)

• Edits three fields: "Title", "Author" and "Subject". There's no field for keywords, creating program or dates.
• The fields start empty: they don't show the current value. Check what's stored first, in the details tool.
• Only filled-in fields are written. A blank field keeps what was there: leaving "Author" empty doesn't erase the old author.
• To erase a field (remove someone's name, for example), use the clean hidden data tool, which strips all the properties at once.
• Several PDFs at once all get the same title, author and subject: good for a series by the same author, risky for titles.
• Side effect: when the file is rewritten, the "Produced by" field changes to the component the tool uses, and the modification date becomes today's.
• If the old title keeps showing in your reader, the file carries the second block of properties (what the cleanup calls "Other hidden data"), which this tool does not touch and some readers prefer. Run the PDF through the clean hidden data tool and edit the metadata afterward.
• A PDF with a password or with permissions is not accepted: you see "Could not edit the metadata." Remove the password first.

Step by step to change title, author and subject

1. Open the edit metadata tool and upload the PDF.
2. Fill in "Title", "Author" and "Subject": only what you want to change; the rest stays as it is.
3. Click "Apply and download". The file is named after the original plus "-metadados".
4. Open the copy and check the reader's tab: the new title is already there.

Where the title and author show up

The title is the text your PDF reader displays in the tab and the window bar when you open the file, and it's also what appears in the document properties. File managers and search systems read the author and subject to group and locate the document. So a PDF with these fields filled in correctly behaves better everywhere it's opened or searched. If you would rather erase every property than rewrite it, see how to remove metadata from a PDF.

Internal title or file name: which is which

The file name ("resume-2026.pdf") is what you see in the folder and can rename at any time. The internal title is something else: it's stored inside the PDF, and it's what the reader shows in the tab and what appears in the document properties. Renaming the file doesn't change the internal title, which is why a "resume-2026.pdf" can open with "Document1" in the tab. This tool adjusts the internal title; the file name you change on your own computer.

Examples of well-filled fields

• Resume: title "Resume of Mary Smith", author "Mary Smith", subject "Marketing analyst".
• Business proposal: title "Consulting proposal for Company X", author with your company's name, subject "Business proposal 2026".
• Report: title "Annual report 2025", author with the department's name, subject with the main topic.
• A series of documents by the same author: upload them all at once only if the title is also the same. Otherwise, one at a time.

Why it's worth adjusting the metadata

• Organization: a well-filled PDF library is easier to search and sort.
• Professional look: a resume, a proposal or a report with the right title and author feels more polished.
• Consistency: keeps an old template name from lingering as the final document's title.
• No content changes: only the properties change; text, images and pages stay intact.

Everything happens in your browser: the PDF is handled on your own device and is never sent to any server.