How to View PDF Metadata on Mac

Every PDF has a story behind the story

When you open a PDF, you see the content - the text, images, and layout that make up the visible document. But behind that visible layer sits a rich set of metadata: information about the document itself. Who created it. When it was created and last modified. What software produced it. How many pages it has. Whether it is encrypted. What fonts are embedded. What PDF version it uses.

This metadata is not decorative. It serves real purposes. A lawyer reviewing documents for litigation needs to know when a PDF was actually created, not just what date appears on its first page. A designer receiving a PDF for print needs to confirm that fonts are embedded and the colour space is correct. A security analyst examining a suspicious file wants to know what software produced it and whether it contains JavaScript. An archivist cataloguing digital records needs accurate author and date information for their database.

On a Mac, you have several ways to view this metadata, ranging from the built-in Preview app to dedicated tools and command-line utilities. Each method reveals different levels of detail, and the right choice depends on what you need to know.

What metadata do PDFs contain?

PDF metadata falls into several categories. Understanding what is available helps you know what to look for and where to find it.

Document properties

These are the basic descriptive fields stored in the PDF's document information dictionary:

• Title - The document's title (often different from the filename).
• Author - The person or entity who created the document.
• Subject - A brief description of the document's content.
• Keywords - Terms associated with the document for search purposes.
• Creator - The application that originally produced the content (for example, Microsoft Word or Google Docs).
• Producer - The software that converted the content to PDF (for example, macOS Quartz PDFContext or Adobe PDF Library).
• Creation date - When the PDF was first created.
• Modification date - When the PDF was last modified.

Technical properties

Beyond the descriptive fields, PDFs contain technical information that matters for compatibility, printing, and security:

• PDF version - Which version of the PDF specification the file conforms to (1.4, 1.7, 2.0, etc.).
• Page count - The total number of pages in the document.
• Page dimensions - The size of each page (which can vary within a single document).
• Encryption - Whether the file is password-protected and what permissions are set.
• Embedded fonts - Which fonts are included in the file and whether they are fully embedded or subsetted.
• Colour space - Whether the document uses RGB, CMYK, or other colour models.
• File size - The total size of the PDF file on disk.
• PDF/A conformance - Whether the file conforms to an archival PDF/A standard.

XMP metadata

Modern PDFs may also contain XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) data - an XML-based metadata format that can store richer, more structured information than the traditional document information dictionary. XMP metadata is required by the PDF/A archival standard and is commonly used in publishing and digital asset management workflows.

Method 1: Paradise PDF (recommended)

Paradise PDF includes a dedicated PDF Property Viewer that shows comprehensive metadata for any PDF file. It is designed to surface the information that matters most, organised in a clear, readable layout.

1. Open Paradise PDF and select the Property Viewer tool from the sidebar.
2. Add your PDF. Drag it from Finder or click to browse. Paradise PDF immediately reads the file and extracts all available metadata.
3. Review the properties. The viewer displays document properties (title, author, creator, producer, dates), technical details (PDF version, page count, page dimensions, file size), security information (encryption status and permissions), and font information (embedded fonts and their types).

The Property Viewer is especially useful when you need to check multiple PDFs quickly. You can view properties for several files without leaving the tool, which is far more efficient than opening each file individually in Preview or running terminal commands one at a time.

Because Paradise PDF runs entirely on your Mac, the metadata inspection happens locally. No file content is uploaded anywhere - which matters when you are examining confidential documents and want to verify their properties without exposing them to a third-party service.

Method 2: Preview's Inspector

macOS Preview has a built-in Inspector window that shows basic PDF metadata. It is already on your Mac and works well for quick checks.

1. Open the PDF in Preview. Double-click the file in Finder, or right-click and choose Open With > Preview.
2. Open the Inspector. Press Cmd+I, or go to Tools > Show Inspector from the menu bar.
3. Click the document tab. The Inspector has several tabs. The document info tab (the one that looks like a small document icon) shows the PDF's metadata.

Preview's Inspector shows the basics: title, author, subject, keywords, creator application, producer, content creator, PDF version, page count, encryption status, page size, and file size. For many situations, this is enough. If you just need to quickly check who authored a document or when it was created, Preview does the job without installing anything.

What Preview does not show

Preview's Inspector has limitations. It does not list embedded fonts - you cannot see which fonts are in the file or whether they are fully embedded or subsetted. It does not show detailed encryption information like the specific permissions set (printing allowed, copying allowed, etc.). It does not display XMP metadata. And it does not show page box information (MediaBox, CropBox, TrimBox) that matters for print production. For any of these details, you need a more specialised tool.

Method 3: Command-line tools

If you are comfortable with Terminal, macOS provides built-in command-line tools for reading file metadata, and you can install additional tools for deeper PDF inspection.

mdls (built-in)

The mdls command reads Spotlight metadata attributes for any file. For PDFs, it shows properties that Spotlight has indexed:

mdls /path/to/document.pdf

This outputs attributes like kMDItemAuthors, kMDItemCreator, kMDItemNumberOfPages, kMDItemPageHeight, kMDItemPageWidth, kMDItemSecurityMethod, and kMDItemVersion. The output can be verbose since it shows all Spotlight attributes, not just PDF-specific ones. You can filter for specific attributes:

mdls -name kMDItemAuthors -name kMDItemNumberOfPages -name kMDItemCreator /path/to/document.pdf

The advantage of mdls is that it is always available on macOS with no installation required. The disadvantage is that it only shows what Spotlight has indexed, which may not include all PDF metadata fields.

exiftool (installable)

ExifTool is a powerful, cross-platform metadata reader that provides far more detail than mdls. You can install it via Homebrew:

brew install exiftool

Once installed, run it against a PDF:

exiftool /path/to/document.pdf

ExifTool outputs a comprehensive list of metadata including all document information dictionary fields, XMP metadata, creation and modification timestamps with timezone information, PDF version, page count, linearisation status, and more. It reads metadata that other tools miss, and it formats the output in a clean, readable way.

For batch inspection, you can run ExifTool against an entire folder:

exiftool /path/to/folder/*.pdf

ExifTool is the preferred command-line tool for serious metadata work. If you regularly need to inspect PDF properties from Terminal, it is worth installing.

python3 with pikepdf (installable)

For programmatic access to PDF metadata, Python with the pikepdf library gives you full control. Install it with pip:

pip3 install pikepdf

Then inspect a PDF's document info dictionary:

python3 -c "import pikepdf; pdf = pikepdf.open('/path/to/document.pdf'); print(dict(pdf.docinfo))"

This approach is most useful when you need to script metadata extraction across many files or integrate PDF metadata reading into a larger workflow.

Comparison: PDF metadata tools for Mac

Why PDF metadata matters

Viewing PDF metadata is not just a technical exercise. There are practical, real-world reasons you might need to inspect the properties of a PDF file.

Legal discovery and litigation

In legal proceedings, document metadata is evidence. The creation date, modification date, and author fields can establish when a document was produced and by whom. The producer field reveals what software was used, which can matter when authenticity is questioned. Lawyers routinely inspect PDF metadata during discovery, and courts have admitted metadata as evidence in numerous cases. If you work in a legal environment, knowing how to view PDF metadata on Mac is a fundamental skill.

Privacy and information leakage

PDF metadata can inadvertently reveal information you did not intend to share. The author field might contain an employee's full name when you wanted the document to appear as coming from the company. The creator field reveals which application was used. The title might contain a working title or internal project name. Before sharing PDFs externally, it is good practice to check the metadata and ensure it does not contain information you prefer to keep private.

Digital forensics

Forensic analysts examine PDF metadata to investigate document provenance, detect tampering, and establish timelines. Inconsistencies between creation dates, modification dates, and producer applications can indicate that a document has been altered. The PDF version and producer combination can reveal whether a document was likely created when it claims to have been.

Print production

Before sending a PDF to a commercial printer, you need to verify that fonts are embedded (not referenced), the colour space is CMYK (not RGB), and the page dimensions match the intended print size. Missing fonts result in substitution that changes the document's appearance. Wrong colour spaces produce unexpected colours on press. Checking metadata before sending files to print avoids costly reprints.

Accessibility compliance

Accessible PDFs require specific metadata: a document title, the language attribute, and tagged structure. Checking whether a PDF has these properties is a first step in assessing accessibility compliance. The title is especially important because screen readers announce it when the document is opened, and a missing or generic title (like "Microsoft Word - Document1") creates a poor experience for users of assistive technology.

File management and organisation

When you have a folder full of PDFs with unhelpful filenames, metadata can help you identify what each file contains. The title, author, and creation date fields often provide enough context to rename or sort files meaningfully. This is particularly useful when dealing with downloaded documents, email attachments, or files received from external parties.

Metadata and security

PDF encryption settings are part of the file's metadata. A PDF can have two types of passwords. The user password (also called the open password) restricts who can open the document at all. The owner password (also called the permissions password) restricts specific actions: printing, copying text, editing, extracting pages, and annotating. A PDF can have one or both.

When you view the metadata of an encrypted PDF, you will see the encryption method (typically AES-128 or AES-256) and the permission flags that indicate what actions are restricted. This tells you what you can and cannot do with the document without the owner password.

It is worth noting that PDF encryption with only an owner password (no user password) does not prevent opening the file. It relies on the viewing software to honour the permission restrictions. True protection requires a user password that prevents the file from being opened at all.

Related reading

• PDF Property Viewer tool
• remove hidden data from PDFs
• rename multiple PDFs