How to Change a PDF’s Title, Author and Keywords

When you open a PDF in a browser, the tab often shows something odd — "Microsoft Word - Document1", "untitled", or an old project name — instead of a proper title. That text comes from the PDF's hidden Title property, not the file name. To fix it, open the PDF Metadata Editor, type the title you want (plus author and keywords if you like), and click Save changes.

Set the title of a PDF

1. Open the PDF Metadata Editor and add your PDF.
2. Fill in Title — this is what browser tabs and search results show.
3. Optionally set Author, Subject and Keywords (separate keywords with commas).
4. Click Save changes and download the updated PDF.

The page content stays exactly as it was; only the properties change.

Where the title shows up

• Browser tabs and window titles in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari when the PDF is opened.
• Google and other search engines, which often use the PDF's title as the clickable headline in results.
• Document management systems and libraries, such as SharePoint, Zotero and e-readers, which list documents by title.
• Screen readers, which announce the title when the document opens.
• The Properties window of every PDF reader.

If the Title is empty, many viewers fall back to the file name, which is better than a stale title but still often ugly ("final_v3_REAL.pdf").

Writing a good PDF title

Treat it like a page title on a website:

• Describe the content: "2026 Price List — Office Furniture" rather than "pricelist".
• Front-load the important words; search results cut long titles short, so stay under about 60 characters.
• Include your organisation for documents you publish: "Annual Report 2025 — Riverside Clinic".
• Leave out version labels like "v3" or "final" in documents for the public.

Author, subject and keywords

• Author: the person or organisation responsible. For published documents, use the organisation name rather than an individual's.
• Subject: a one-line description. Some document systems show it under the title.
• Keywords: a few terms that help internal search find the file. Search engines largely ignore PDF keywords, so don't stuff them.

Before publishing a PDF online

A PDF on your website is a page in its own right for search engines. A short checklist:

1. Give it a clear title (above) and a matching, readable file name with hyphens: annual-report-2025.pdf.
2. Make sure its text is real text, not a scan, so it can be indexed — run PDF OCR on scans to check what's readable.
3. Keep it light so it opens quickly on phones — Compress PDF helps.
4. Add page numbers with Add Page Numbers for long documents people will cite.

Titles for scanned documents

A scanner or phone app usually saves scans with a title like "Scan_20261011" or none at all. Set a descriptive title before you file or share them — it makes a folder of scans far easier to search later, both on your computer and in cloud storage.

Clearing old properties

If a document was built from someone else's template, it may carry their name or an old title. Clear everything with Remove all metadata, then set a fresh title. See how to remove hidden metadata from a PDF for what else is stored.

Frequently asked questions

Does changing the title rename the file?

No. The file name and the Title property are separate. Rename the file in your file manager as usual.

Why does my browser still show the old title?

Browsers cache PDFs. Close the tab and open the new file, or check that you opened the downloaded copy rather than the original.

Is my PDF uploaded?

No. The properties are edited in your browser.