How to edit a PDF file Date Created (or Modified) with Acrobat

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Having created a PDF file, I wanted to change the PDF creation date, as reported in the document properties. Here’s how.

  1. Using Adobe Acrobat v9 (not Acrobat Reader), I brought up the document’s properties (Ctrl+D), and clicked then “Additional Metadata” button.
  2. In the new Description window, click on the Advanced option, and then click Save. This will save all the metadata to a file.
  3. The file can then be edited with a text editor, such as Wordpad. The line responsible for the creation date looks like this:
    <xmp:CreateDate>1999-02-01T07:29:10+08:00</xmp:CreateDate>
    Here I have changed the creation date to 1999-02-01. Don’t forget to save the changes.

  4. In the Advanced Description window, click the Replace button, and select the newly edited file. It will replace all the meta data with the new metadata, including the new Creation date.
  5. Now save the PDF document (use Save As if you want to retain the Fast Web View option

Unfortunately this will not change the Windows Date Modified or Date Created timestamps as reported by File Explorer, and a third party utility is required.