PDF Metadata Viewer
See who made a PDF, what software wrote it, when, and what size its pages are. Runs entirely in your browser — the file is never uploaded.
—
Document information
Page sizes
| Size | Pages | Which |
|---|
Related tools
All PDF tools →This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to our servers, so there is nothing for us to store or see.
About the PDF Metadata Viewer
Drop in a PDF and see what it says about itself: title, author, subject, keywords, the software that created it, the software that produced it, the dates it was created and last modified, how many pages it has and what size they are.
The Author and Producer fields are the interesting ones. Author is filled in from the licence details of whatever wrote the document, so it very often holds a real name the sender had no idea was attached. Producer names the exact software and version, which is how you tell a scan from an export, a Word document from a LaTeX one, and a file that was edited after signing from one that was not.
Page sizes are grouped rather than listed one per page: a 300-page document with two different page sizes is worth knowing about, and 300 identical rows are not. Sizes are given in points, millimetres and inches, with the standard paper name where there is one — useful before sending something to print, where a document that is mostly A4 with three Letter pages in the middle is a problem you want to find early.
The file is read in your browser and never uploaded, which matters for exactly the documents you would most want to check: contracts, statements, and anything received from someone you do not entirely trust.
How to use the PDF Metadata Viewer
-
Add a PDF
Drop it onto the box or click to choose. The PDF engine downloads on first use, which takes a moment on a slow connection and happens once per visit.
-
Read the document information
Title, author, subject, keywords, creating and producing software, and the two dates — each shown only if the document carries it.
-
Check what it gives away
Anything identifying is called out above the fields, with an explanation of where it came from.
-
Look at the page sizes
Grouped by size with the page numbers, so a document with mixed page sizes is obvious at a glance.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a PDF have my name in it?
Because the Author field is usually filled in automatically from the account or licence details of the software that created it. Word, Acrobat, InDesign and most exporters all do this. It is the single most common way a document gives away who made it, and almost nobody sets it deliberately.
What is the difference between Creator and Producer?
Creator names the application the content was authored in — Word, InDesign, LaTeX. Producer names the software that wrote the actual PDF, which is often a different library or a print driver. A file created in Word and exported through Acrobat lists both, and the pair is a fairly precise fingerprint of the workflow that made it.
Can I remove this information?
Not with this tool, which reads rather than writes. Most PDF editors let you clear the document properties before saving, and printing to PDF from a viewer generally drops them along with everything else. Be aware that clearing the visible fields does not necessarily remove an embedded XMP metadata block, which some software writes as well.
Why do the page sizes matter?
Because a printer will do something unhelpful with a document whose pages are not all the same size — scale them, centre them, or reject the job. It is also a quick way to spot that a document has been assembled from several sources, since the joins usually show up as a change in page size or orientation.
Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
No. The document is parsed in your browser by a library that runs entirely on your device. Nothing is transmitted or stored, which is the point for a tool most people reach for when they are checking a contract or a statement.