How to batch modify the title, author, subject, and keywords in PDF document properties

When the document properties of multiple PDF files are empty, the authors are inconsistent, or the title keywords are not standardized, opening and modifying them one by one with a PDF reader is time-consuming. This article describes how to use the "Modify PDF Metadata" feature in HeSoft Doc Batch Tool to set the title, author, subject, keywords, and other information for multiple PDFs at once, and illustrates the effect with before-and-after screenshots. It is suitable for scenarios such as file archiving, e-book organization, enterprise document standardization, and SEO file optimization.

In daily office work, PDF files are often used for contracts, reports, courseware, e-books, archived materials, and other scenarios. Many times, the file name appears correct, but after opening the document properties, you may find that metadata such as title, author, subject, and keywords is empty, or still retains old templates, old authors, or old project names. A small number of files can be modified manually, but if dozens or hundreds of PDF files need to have their author, title, or keywords filled in uniformly, opening Adobe Acrobat one by one and saving is not only time-consuming but also prone to omissions.

The problem this article addresses is clear: use a batch-processing software designed for office scenarios to change the metadata in multiple PDF files to specified content all at once. The software shown in the screenshots is named " HeSoft Doc Batch Tool ", and it is positioned as a batch-processing tool for office documents, suitable for handling large numbers of repetitive file tasks, such as batch renaming, batch file organization, and batch processing of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and other office documents. This article focuses on its "Modify PDF Metadata" feature to help you batch-modify fields such as title, author, subject, and keywords in PDF document properties.

Applicable scenarios: when do you need to batch-modify PDF metadata

PDF metadata is information hidden in file properties, usually including title, author, subject, keywords, creation date, application, producer, and so on. It does not necessarily appear directly in the PDF page content, but it can affect file retrieval, document management, archiving standards, and how some readers display the file.

The following scenarios are especially suitable for batch-modifying PDF metadata:

• Enterprise document archiving: PDF reports from the same project, department, or year need to have unified author, subject, and keywords for easier later retrieval.
• Organizing e-books or resource packages: PDFs converted from Word, doc, docx, PPT, Excel, and other files may still contain leftover information from the original software or template in their properties, and need to be standardized.
• Publishing external materials: PDFs prepared for upload to websites, knowledge bases, cloud drives, or document systems should have accurate titles and keywords to make searching easier for users.
• Batch-correcting incorrect authors: Multiple PDFs whose author fields are empty or show old employees or old template names need to be replaced with the specified name in one pass.
• Standardizing training material properties: For example, set the subject of a batch of English learning PDFs to "How to learn English" and the keywords to "2026", keeping the resource library consistent.

If only one PDF needs to be changed, manual editing is not complicated; but when the number of files increases, the value of a batch-processing tool becomes very obvious. It can consolidate repetitive operations into a single configuration, reducing manual clicking, avoiding omissions, and improving office efficiency.

Preview of the effect: PDF document properties are empty before processing

Below is a screenshot of the PDF document properties before processing. You can see that in the "Document Properties" window of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, the "Title", "Author", "Subject", and "Keywords" fields under the Description tab are all blank. For files that need to be archived or published externally, this state is not conducive to management, nor is it convenient for searching and filtering by properties.

In the screenshot, the red boxes mark the fields that need attention: Title, Author, Subject, and Keywords. The goal of this article is to write these fields into specified content in batch, rather than opening the properties window of each PDF individually and entering them manually.

Preview of the effect: PDF title, author, subject, and keywords have been written after processing

After completing the batch processing with " HeSoft Doc Batch Tool ", open the document properties of the same PDF again, and you can see that the previously empty fields have been written with new content. For example, the title is "Title for 2026", the author is "Jack", the subject is "How to learn English", and the keywords are "2026".

From the post-processing screenshot, you can also see that the PDF file location has changed to the output directory, indicating that the software did not display the pre-processing file directly in the original path, but instead generated a processed version of the file. In actual use, this approach helps preserve the original file and prevents the original materials from being overwritten due to accidental operations.

Step 1: Enter the PDF tools and select "Modify PDF Metadata"

After opening " HeSoft Doc Batch Tool ", select "PDF Tools" from the function categories on the left. The main interface of the software displays multiple PDF-related functions in card form, such as Delete Blank Pages, PDF Optimization and Compression, Remove Metadata from PDF, Remove Bookmarks from PDF, Set PDF Initial View, PDF to Word, PDF to PowerPoint, PDF to TXT, PDF to JPG Images, and so on.

In this task, you need to select "34. Modify PDF Metadata". From the description in the screenshot, you can see that this function is used to batch-modify information such as title, author, subject, and keywords in PDF files. The mouse-over hint also clearly shows that metadata such as title, author, subject, keywords, dates, and programs can be batch-modified.

The purpose of this step is to enter the dedicated batch-editing workflow for PDF metadata. After selecting the correct function, you can then add multiple PDF files and uniformly set the attribute content to be written.

Step 2: Add the PDF files to be processed

After entering the "Modify PDF Metadata" function, the interface enters a step-by-step wizard. At the top, you can see that the process is divided into four stages: "Select records to process", "Set processing options", "Set save location", and "Start processing". The first step is to add the PDF files to be processed to the list.

In the upper right of the screenshot, you can see buttons such as "Add Files", "Import Files from Folder", "Clear", and "More". If you need to process a small number of specific PDFs, you can use "Add Files"; if there are many PDFs in a folder, "Import Files from Folder" is more suitable, as it can reduce the time spent selecting files one by one. After adding, the software lists the file records in a table, including sequence number, name, path, extension, creation time, modification time, and other information.

In the example screenshot, 4 PDF files have been imported, named 1.pdf, 2.pdf, 3.pdf, and 4.pdf, with paths under D:\test\. After confirming that the file list is correct, click "Next" at the bottom to enter the metadata settings page.

The expected result of this step is that all PDF files whose metadata needs to be modified appear in the list, and the number of records matches the actual number of files to be processed. If files that do not need to be processed are mixed into the list, you can remove individual records using the delete button in the action column, or use "Clear" to add them again.

Step 3: Set the title, author, subject, and keywords to be written in batch

After entering the second step, "Set processing options", you can see multiple configurable fields. The fields shown in the screenshot include "Title", "Author", "Subject", "Keywords", "Creation Date", "Application", and "Producer". Each field has a switch on the left, indicating whether to enable batch modification of that field.

If you only need to modify title, author, subject, and keywords, just turn on the switches for these four fields and fill in the content in the corresponding input boxes. The content filled in the example is as follows:

• Title: Title for 2026
• Author: Jack
• Subject: How to learn English
• Keywords: 2026

This step is critical because fields whose switches are enabled will be written into all PDF files to be processed; fields that are not enabled will not participate in this batch modification. In the screenshot, the switches for "Creation Date", "Application", and "Producer" are turned off, indicating that this example did not modify that information. This can avoid accidentally changing properties that do not need adjustment.

After filling in the content, click "Next" at the bottom to continue to the save location settings. Since this is a batch file task, it is recommended to save the output files to a new folder so that pre-processing and post-processing versions can be distinguished, and it is also convenient to spot-check the results after processing.

Step 4: Set the save location and start processing

According to the process at the top of the wizard, after setting the processing options, you will enter the "Set save location" stage. The purpose here is to determine where the PDF files with modified metadata will be saved. In the post-processing screenshot, the file location is shown as C:\Users\hello\Desktop\hesoft-output\, indicating that the software outputs the processed files to the specified directory.

When batch-modifying PDF metadata, it is recommended not to set output locations that are too scattered. You can create a dedicated output folder, such as "PDF metadata modified", "hesoft-output", or a directory named after the project. This has three benefits: first, the original files can be preserved; second, the processing results are easier to verify; third, if you find that the filled-in content needs adjustment, you can reprocess without confusing versions.

After setting the save location, continue to the "Start processing" stage. The software writes metadata to the records in the list one by one. Since this is a batch-processing task, users do not need to open the properties window of each PDF separately, nor enter the title, author, subject, and keywords one by one.

Step 5: Open PDF document properties to check the processing results

After processing is complete, it is recommended to spot-check at least one or several output PDFs. You can use a common PDF reader or Adobe Acrobat to open the file, enter the document properties window, and check whether the title, author, subject, and keywords have changed to the expected content.

From the post-processing screenshot, you can see that the metadata of the example PDF has been written successfully: the title is "Title for 2026", the author is "Jack", the subject is "How to learn English", and the keywords are "2026". This shows that the batch settings have taken effect.

If you are processing a large number of PDFs, it is recommended to spot-check several files with different file names and different sources to confirm that they all have the same metadata information written. For materials to be archived or published, this step can effectively avoid omissions caused by differences in source files.

Common questions and precautions

1. Will batch-modifying PDF metadata change the PDF page content?

Judging from the function name and the screenshot workflow, "Modify PDF Metadata" mainly processes document property information, such as title, author, subject, and keywords, rather than modifying the body content of PDF pages. Therefore, it is suitable for property standardization, not for replacing text within pages.

2. How should title, subject, and keywords be filled in?

It is recommended to fill them in according to the purpose of the file. Enterprise archiving can use project names, years, and department names; publishing materials can use words that users can easily search; training materials can use course names, chapter names, version numbers, and so on. Keywords should not be too long, but should accurately summarize the document content.

3. Why use a batch tool instead of modifying each file individually with PDF software?

Individual modification is suitable for a single file, but batch files bring a large amount of repetitive labor. The value of batch processing in office software lies in centralizing repetitive steps into one configuration and executing them all at once. For dozens of PDFs, the time saved is obvious; for hundreds of PDFs, it can also reduce the probability of omissions and input errors.

4. Is it possible to modify only some fields?

Yes. In the screenshot, there is a switch in front of each metadata field. By enabling only the fields that need to be modified, for example, only enabling "Author" and "Keywords", you can avoid affecting the title or subject. For fields where you are not sure whether modification is needed, it is recommended to keep them disabled.

5. Do I need to back up the original files before processing?

It is recommended to keep the original files. Although the output directory mechanism helps distinguish pre-processing and post-processing versions, before formally processing important contracts, papers, reports, or archived materials, it is still recommended to make backups and first test the processing results with a small number of files.

Summary: use batch processing to reduce the repetitive work of PDF property maintenance

Batch-modifying PDF metadata may seem like a small need, but when the number of documents is large, it directly affects office efficiency and the quality of material management. Through the "Modify PDF Metadata" feature of " HeSoft Doc Batch Tool ", operations that originally required opening, filling in, and saving each file one by one can be turned into adding files once, filling in fields once, and batch-processing once.

For users who need to standardize PDF titles, authors, subjects, and keywords, this method is especially suitable for material archiving, file publishing, e-book organization, course material management, and enterprise document standardization. It is recommended that you first prepare a batch of test PDFs, follow the steps in this article to add files, set metadata, set the save location, and start processing, then open the output files to check whether the properties meet expectations. After confirming that the process is correct, you can confidently use it for batch-processing more PDF files.