Edit the fields that matter
Open a PDF in the editor above and the Metadata tab shows its current fields, ready to change:
| Field | Where people see it |
|---|---|
| Title | The browser tab and window title when the PDF is opened online, and often the headline in search results. A file called "Doc1" or "Final v7 JE comments" looks careless. |
| Author | Document properties in every PDF viewer. Usually set automatically from a computer account. |
| Subject | Document properties; some document management systems index it. |
| Keywords | Document properties and some search tools. Separate keywords with commas. |
| Created with | The application the document was written in (the PDF "Creator" field). |
| PDF made by | The software that produced the PDF (the "Producer" field). |
Leave a field empty to remove it. Press Save with these fields and RedactKit writes a copy that holds only what you typed.
Drop your PDF into the tool above to see every field it carries, then remove or rewrite them. Documents up to 5 pages are free. Check a PDF →
Why editing clears the rest
A PDF can store its metadata twice: in the document information dictionary and in an XMP record. Viewers differ in which one they show, so a tool that edits one and leaves the other gives you a file that says different things in different programs. RedactKit avoids that by writing your fields to the document information and removing the XMP record, the creation and modification dates, attachments, scripts and leftovers from earlier saves. What you typed is the only metadata left.
If you only want the hidden data gone, use Remove all metadata instead.
Good metadata for published PDFs
- Title: what the document is, in plain words, as you would want it in a search result: "Annual report 2025–26", not "AR_FINAL_v3".
- Author: the organisation, not the person who happened to export it, unless the person should be credited.
- Subject: one sentence on what the document covers.
- Keywords: a handful of terms people would search for. They don't help Google rank a PDF much, but internal search tools use them.
Reading what is there before you change it
The Metadata tab is also a viewer. Dates are shown in plain form ("2026-10-14 09:12:00 UTC" rather than the raw "D:20261014091200Z"), XMP properties are listed with their names (such as dc:creator or xmp:CreatorTool), and anything unusual is flagged in red: attached files, JavaScript actions and page-level metadata. It is a quick way to see what a PDF from someone else says about where it came from, without changing the file.
Everything stays on your computer
The editor is a web page that runs in your browser. The PDF is read from your disk and the edited copy is saved back to it; nothing is uploaded. Viewing a file's metadata is always free. Saving changes is free for PDFs of up to 5 pages; longer documents use one credit, and saving the same file again doesn't use another.
What the editor doesn't change
The editor rewrites the information around the pages, not the pages themselves. If a name appears in the document's text, header or footer, use the Redact tab to remove it. Bookmarks, links and form fields are kept as they are; to drop them as well, export from the Redact tab, which builds a completely new file.
Related: Remove metadata from a PDF · How to redact a PDF