Protect PDF & Edit PDF Metadata

Protect your PDF from revealing more than you intended

Every PDF carries document properties that most people never look at: a title, an author, a subject, and keywords. Anyone who opens the file can read them in a few clicks. This tool helps you protect PDF files before sharing by showing those properties and letting you change or clear them. Everything happens in your browser.

One honest note up front: password encryption is not available here yet. The page shows password and permission fields, but the file is saved without encryption, and the tool tells you so after saving. If you need a password on the file, see the section on real encryption below.

What PDF metadata is, and why it matters

• Title – shown in the browser tab or the reader's title bar instead of the file name. Many PDFs carry an old title such as "Proposal_v3_FINAL".
• Author – often filled in automatically from the computer or office account that created the file. That can be your full name, a Windows username, or a former employer's license name.
• Subject and Keywords – usually empty, but templates and corporate systems sometimes fill them with internal project codes or client names.
• Language – a code such as en or en-US that tells screen readers which voice and pronunciation to use. It is a basic accessibility requirement for documents published on government and school websites.

To see the metadata of any PDF yourself, open it and look under File → Properties (Ctrl+D in many Windows readers), or use Tools → Show Inspector in Preview on a Mac.

How to edit PDF metadata

1. Upload your PDF by dropping it on the upload area or clicking to choose a file.
2. Look at the pre-filled fields. The tool reads the existing title, author, subject, and keywords, so you see exactly what the file reveals right now.
3. Edit or clear the fields. Separate keywords with commas, and enter a language code such as en-US.
4. Leave the password fields empty. They do not encrypt the file yet.
5. Click the save button (currently labeled Encrypt & Save). Your browser downloads a new copy named edited_ followed by your original file name.
6. Open the new copy and check its properties before you send it.

Situations where this is worth two minutes

• Job applications. A résumé built from a downloaded template may list the template designer as author or carry a title like "Modern Resume Template". Anyone who checks the file properties will see it.
• Client deliverables. A report reused from last quarter's project can still have the previous client's name in its keywords or subject.
• PDFs published on a website. Search engines can use the Title field when they list a PDF, so a clear title helps. A clean author field avoids exposing a staff member's username.
• Blind submissions. Peer reviews and contest entries often require that your name appears nowhere. The author field is the place people forget.

Limits you should know about

• No encryption or permissions yet. The file is not password protected, and printing or copying restrictions are not applied.
• Only the standard document properties are edited. Some PDFs, especially from large office and publishing programs, also keep a second copy of these properties in an XMP metadata block. This tool does not rewrite that block, so a few viewers may still show old values.
• Hidden fields are kept. The creation date and creating application stay as they were; the modification date is set to the moment you save.
• Metadata is not content. Comments, hidden layers, attachments, and text on the pages are untouched. Covering text with a black box in another program does not remove it either.
• Files that already require a password to open cannot be unlocked or changed here.

How to add a real password to a PDF today

If the goal is to stop people from opening the file, use the software that created it. In Microsoft Word on Windows, choose Save As → PDF → Options and tick "Encrypt the document with a password". In LibreOffice, use File → Export as PDF and set passwords on the Security tab. On a Mac, Preview's File → Export dialog has permission settings, including one to require a password. Edit the metadata here first, then encrypt the clean copy in one of those programs.

Privacy

Metadata editing runs entirely in your browser with the pdf-lib library. Your PDF is not uploaded to our server, and the new file is created on your device.

This tool vs. exporting from an office suite

Related tools

Before sharing, you may also want to drop internal pages with Remove PDF Pages, add a note or a missing page with Edit PDF, or make the file small enough for an email with Compress PDF.

Frequently asked questions

Does this tool password-protect my PDF?

Not at the moment. The password fields are visible, but the downloaded file is not encrypted. Use the export options described above for a real password.

How do I remove my name from a PDF?

Upload the file, clear the Author field (and any other field that mentions you), save, and check the new copy under File → Properties. If your name also appears on the pages themselves, that text has to be changed in the source document.

Will editing metadata change how my PDF looks?

No. Pages, fonts, and images are left as they are. Only the document properties and the modification date change.

Why does my PDF still show the old title?

Make sure you opened the new edited_ copy, not the original. If the old title still appears, your viewer may be reading the XMP metadata copy, which this tool does not rewrite.