PDF Metadata Viewer: How to View & Edit PDF Metadata (Mac & Windows)
Every PDF you create or download carries a hidden layer of information you never see when you read it. Open a contract, a resume, or a research paper and the words on the page are only half the story. Underneath sits the document's metadata: the author's name, the title, the keywords, the exact dates it was created and last modified, and the name of the software that produced it. A good PDF metadata viewer pulls all of that out into plain view so you can read it, audit it, or wipe it before you share the file with the world.
PDFs actually store this information in two parallel systems. The first is the Document Information Dictionary (often called DocInfo), a small legacy structure holding fields like /Title, /Author, /Subject, /Keywords, /Creator, /Producer, /CreationDate, and /ModDate. The second is XMP (Adobe's Extensible Metadata Platform), a packet of RDF/XML that carries the same fields plus richer schemas: Dublin Core, document IDs, an edit history trail, and PDF/A or PDF/X conformance markers. People reach for a PDF metadata viewer for all kinds of reasons: privacy (a resume that quietly leaks your full legal name and company), digital forensics (proving when a document was really made), SEO and accessibility (search engines and screen readers read PDF titles), and plain organization (sorting hundreds of files by their real authors). This guide covers the best tools for the job on both Mac and Windows, with exact commands and click-by-click steps.
What Metadata Lives in a PDF
Before picking a tool, it helps to know what you're actually looking at. A typical PDF carries these fields:
| Field | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Title | The document's declared title (not the filename) | "Q3 Financial Report" |
| Author | The person or account that created it | "Jane Doe" |
| Subject | A short description of the contents | "Internal review draft" |
| Keywords | Tags for search and indexing | "finance, 2026, draft" |
| Creator | The app that authored the original document | Microsoft Word, InDesign |
| Producer | The software that exported it to PDF | Adobe PDF Library, Ghostscript |
| CreationDate | When the PDF was first generated | 2026:06:14 09:31:02 |
| ModDate | When it was last modified | 2026:07:01 16:08:44 |
| XMP packet | RDF/XML with Dublin Core, document IDs, edit history | dc:creator, xmpMM:History |
The distinction between Creator and Producer trips a lot of people up. The Creator is the application that originally made the document (Word, Pages, InDesign), while the Producer is the engine that converted it to PDF (Adobe PDF Library, Ghostscript, Prince, pdfTeX). Seeing "Microsoft Word" as Creator and "Adobe PDF Library" as Producer tells you someone wrote the file in Word and printed it to PDF through Acrobat. That pairing alone can reveal a surprising amount about how and where a document was made. The XMP packet often duplicates the DocInfo fields, which is why some viewers show you the same author twice. If you're inspecting images instead, the same concept applies, and an EXIF viewer does for photos what a PDF metadata viewer does for documents.
Best PDF Metadata Viewers
There's no single "best" tool here. The right choice depends on whether you want a quick GUI peek, scriptable batch processing, or full editing. Here are the strongest options across both platforms.
ExifTool (Command Line, Mac & Windows)
ExifTool is the gold standard. Despite the name, it reads far more than photo EXIF data, including the complete DocInfo dictionary and every XMP packet inside a PDF, plus hidden revision data that GUI tools quietly skip. It's free, open source, and runs everywhere.
exiftool document.pdf
That single command dumps every readable field. To see only XMP data, add -xmp:all, and to write changes you append the field you want, such as -Author="New Name".
Pros: Most thorough output of any tool; scriptable for hundreds of files; free; cross-platform. Cons: Command line only, so there's a small learning curve. Pair it with a metadata extractor workflow if you process files in bulk.
Adobe Acrobat & Reader (Document Properties)
If you already have Acrobat or the free Reader installed, the metadata is two clicks away. Open the PDF, then choose File → Properties (or press Cmd/Ctrl + D). The Description tab lists Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, and the created/modified dates, while Additional Metadata exposes the XMP fields. Acrobat Pro also lets you edit and save those fields directly.
Pros: Familiar GUI; shows DocInfo and XMP; Pro can edit and save. Cons: Reader can only view, not edit; Acrobat Pro is a paid subscription; heavy install.
macOS Preview (Inspector)
Every Mac ships with a built-in viewer. Open the PDF in Preview, then go to Tools → Show Inspector (Cmd + I) and click the Info (ⓘ) tab. You'll see the basic DocInfo fields: title, author, dates, and keywords. It's the fastest no-install option on a Mac, though it only shows a subset of fields and can't read the full XMP packet.
Pros: Built into macOS, zero install; instant for a quick look. Cons: Limited fields; no XMP detail; can't edit metadata.
Poppler's pdfinfo (Command Line)
pdfinfo ships with the Poppler library, available via Homebrew on Mac (brew install poppler) and most Linux package managers. It's lighter than ExifTool and built specifically for PDFs.
pdfinfo document.pdf
This prints title, author, creator, producer, creation and modification dates, page count, and dimensions. Add the -meta flag to dump the raw XMP metadata block.
Pros: Fast, PDF-focused, free; great for scripts. Cons: Command line; less exhaustive than ExifTool; no editing.
Online PDF Metadata Viewers
Tools like metadata2go, Aspose, and various browser-based extractors let you drag a PDF in and read its metadata without installing anything. Handy on a borrowed machine or a Chromebook.
Pros: No install; works on any device with a browser. Cons: You're uploading potentially sensitive documents to a third-party server, which is a real privacy concern. Avoid for anything confidential. A dedicated metadata viewer app that runs locally is safer for private files.
Full PDF Editors (PDFelement, UPDF, and similar)
Dedicated PDF editors bundle a metadata viewer alongside editing, conversion, and annotation. They're the most polished way to both read and rewrite fields with a proper interface, and they work the same on Mac and Windows.
Pros: View and edit in one place; clean GUI; cross-platform. Cons: Paid apps; overkill if you only need to read metadata once.
How to View PDF Metadata Step by Step
Here's the practical part. Pick the path that matches your setup.
Using ExifTool (most complete):
# Install on Mac via Homebrew
brew install exiftool
# View all metadata
exiftool resume.pdf
# View only the XMP packet
exiftool -xmp:all resume.pdf
Using pdfinfo (fast and lightweight):
# Install Poppler on Mac
brew install poppler
# Print core metadata
pdfinfo resume.pdf
# Include the raw XMP block
pdfinfo -meta resume.pdf
Using macOS Preview (no install):
- Open the PDF in Preview.
- Press
Cmd + I(or Tools → Show Inspector). - Click the Info tab to read title, author, and dates.
Using Adobe Acrobat or Reader (Windows or Mac):
- Open the PDF.
- Press
Cmd/Ctrl + D(or File → Properties). - Read the Description tab; click Additional Metadata for XMP fields.
Whichever route you take, you'll see the same underlying data. The command-line tools simply surface more of it, including the fields GUI viewers hide.
Removing PDF Metadata for Privacy
Viewing is often just the first step. Once you see that a file leaks your full name, your company's licensed copy of Acrobat, or the exact date you scrambled a document together at 2 a.m., you'll probably want it gone. Metadata is a genuine privacy and security risk: lawyers have lost cases over revision histories, and journalists have burned sources by sharing PDFs that named them in the author field.
The cleanest one-liner uses ExifTool to wipe everything:
exiftool -all:all= cleaned.pdf
That strips the DocInfo dictionary and the XMP packet in one pass. For a deeper, step-by-step walkthrough including how to verify the file is truly clean, see our guide on how to remove metadata from a PDF. If you handle documents in bulk, you can script the same command across an entire folder. One caveat: stripping metadata changes the file but does nothing to its visual size, so a cleaned PDF can still be enormous. That's a separate problem worth solving in the same pass.
When you're cleaning up files and want them smaller too, Compresto is the companion tool for the second half of the job. It compresses PDFs on Mac, processes batches offline, and never uploads your documents anywhere. Compresto doesn't deeply edit metadata, so use a viewer like ExifTool to inspect and strip the fields first, then run the file through Compresto to shrink it. If file size is your real concern, our guides on how to compress a PDF on Mac and reducing PDF file size cover the whole workflow.
Comparison Table
| Tool | Platform | View | Edit | Free | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ExifTool | Mac, Windows, Linux | Yes (all fields) | Yes | Yes | Power users, batch jobs |
| pdfinfo (Poppler) | Mac, Windows, Linux | Yes | No | Yes | Quick scriptable lookups |
| macOS Preview | Mac | Basic fields | No | Yes | Fast no-install peek |
| Adobe Acrobat Pro | Mac, Windows | Yes | Yes | No | GUI editing |
| Adobe Reader | Mac, Windows | Yes | No | Yes | Read-only GUI |
| Online viewers | Any browser | Yes | Some | Yes | Borrowed machines (non-sensitive files) |
| PDF editors (PDFelement, UPDF) | Mac, Windows | Yes | Yes | No | All-in-one view and edit |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free PDF metadata viewer? ExifTool is the most capable free option on any platform; it reads every DocInfo and XMP field and runs from the command line. If you want a graphical tool, macOS Preview (built in on Macs) and the free Adobe Reader both show the core fields without costing anything.
How do I view PDF metadata without installing software?
On a Mac, open the file in Preview and press Cmd + I to see the Info tab. On any device, a browser-based PDF metadata viewer lets you drag and drop a file, though you should avoid uploading confidential documents to online tools.
What's the difference between Creator and Producer in PDF metadata? The Creator is the application that authored the original document, such as Microsoft Word or InDesign. The Producer is the software that converted it to PDF, such as Adobe PDF Library or Ghostscript. Seeing both tells you the full chain of how the file was made.
Can a PDF metadata viewer show hidden or deleted information?
ExifTool can surface revision data and embedded XMP history that GUI viewers skip, but it shows what's stored in the file's metadata layer, not deleted page content. To truly remove sensitive data, strip the metadata with exiftool -all:all= and flatten the document.
Does removing metadata reduce a PDF's file size? Barely. Metadata is tiny compared to images and fonts inside a PDF, so stripping it won't shrink the file meaningfully. To actually reduce size, you need a compressor; tools like Compresto handle that, and our best PDF compressor for Mac roundup compares the options.
Bottom Line
A PDF metadata viewer turns the invisible layer of your documents into something you can actually read, audit, and control. For a quick look on a Mac, Preview's Inspector is one keystroke away. For the complete picture, including XMP packets and hidden revision data, ExifTool is unbeatable and free, with pdfinfo as a lighter alternative for scripts. If you need to edit fields through a polished interface, Acrobat Pro or a dedicated PDF editor will do it.
The workflow that matters most: inspect first, strip the metadata you don't want to share, then compress the file so it's actually sendable. Use ExifTool to see and clean the metadata, follow our how to compress a PDF file guide for the size, and let Compresto handle the shrinking offline on your Mac. And if your files are videos rather than documents, the same inspect-then-act principle applies; a video metadata extractor reads the equivalent hidden data inside your media.