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PDF document title missing or not displayed

An accessible PDF needs a title in its metadata, and it has to tell PDF viewers to show that title instead of the file name. If either part is missing, Acrobat reports “Title – Failed” and automated PDF/UA checkers report rule 7.1-9 or 7.1-10. Both are quick to fix in the source document or in Acrobat Pro.

Updated

Messages you may see

  • Acrobat Accessibility Checker: Title - Failed (Document title is showing in title bar)
  • PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.1-8: The Catalog dictionary of a conforming file shall contain the Metadata key whose value is a metadata stream as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.3.2. The metadata stream dictionary shall contain entry Type with value /Metadata and entry Subtype with value /XML
  • PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.1-9: The Metadata stream in the document's catalog dictionary shall contain a dc:title entry, where dc is the recommended prefix for the Dublin Core metadata schema as defined in the XMP specification, which clearly identifies the document
  • PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.1-10: The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true
  • PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2) rule 8.11.1-1: The Metadata stream as specified in ISO 32000-2:2020, 14.3 in the document catalog dictionary shall contain a dc:title entry
  • PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2) rule 8.11.2-1: The ViewerPreferences dictionary of the document catalog dictionary shall be present and shall contain at least the DisplayDocTitle key with a value of true, as described in ISO 32000-2:2020, Table 147
  • Matterhorn Protocol 1.1, 06-003: Metadata stream does not contain dc:title
  • Matterhorn Protocol 1.1, 07-001: ViewerPreferences dictionary of the Catalog dictionary does not contain DisplayDocTitle key.
  • Matterhorn Protocol 1.1, 07-002: ViewerPreferences dictionary of the Catalog dictionary contains DisplayDocTitle key with a value of false.

What the rule requires

PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) contains two separate requirements for the title. Automated checkers test them as three rules of clause 7.1:

  • Rule 7.1-8: the document catalog contains an XMP metadata stream (/Metadata, with /Type /Metadata and /Subtype /XML).
  • Rule 7.1-9: this metadata stream contains a dc:title entry that clearly identifies the document.
  • Rule 7.1-10: the catalog contains a /ViewerPreferences dictionary with /DisplayDocTitle true. This tells viewers to show the title, not the file name, in the window title bar or tab.

PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2) keeps both requirements: rule 8.11.1-1 for dc:title (8.11.1-2 for the metadata stream itself) and rule 8.11.2-1 for DisplayDocTitle.

In the Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 of the PDF Association, the metadata part belongs to checkpoint 06 (Metadata): failure condition 06-001 means there is no XMP metadata stream, 06-003 means it has no dc:title. The viewer setting belongs to checkpoint 07 (Dictionary): 07-001 means the DisplayDocTitle key is missing, 07-002 means it is set to false. Condition 06-004, a title that does not clearly identify the document, can only be judged by a person.

Software can check whether a title exists, not whether it is useful. Titles such as “Document1”, “Untitled” or “Microsoft Word - Report_final_v3.docx” pass the machine check and still fail the human review.

Why it matters

Screen readers announce the window title when a document opens and whenever users switch between applications or browser tabs. Without a displayed title they hear the file name, which is often a code such as 2026-11-07_scan_0412.pdf or a working name from the authoring tool.

People who have several documents open, for example a caseworker comparing an application form with its guidance notes, rely on this announcement to know where they are. Users of screen magnification see only a small part of the screen and also depend on a clear title in the tab or window bar. The title is also what browser history, bookmarks and many search results show, so a missing title makes the document harder for everyone to find again.

WCAG success criterion 2.4.2 (Page Titled) applies to PDF documents as well. The W3C technique PDF18 describes exactly this combination of a title entry and the DisplayDocTitle flag.

Common causes

  • The title field in the document properties of the source file was never filled in. The export then writes no dc:title, or a default value such as the file name.
  • The source file has a title, but the PDF was produced with a route that drops document properties, for example a PDF printer driver, or with the export option for document properties switched off.
  • The PDF has a title only in the older Info dictionary (/Title) and no XMP metadata stream, which PDF/UA requires. This happens with older or very simple PDF libraries.
  • The title is present, but the export did not set DisplayDocTitle, so viewers show the file name. In InDesign this happens when Display Title is set to File Name in the export dialog.
  • The PDF was later merged, split or compressed with a tool that rewrote the metadata and lost the title or the viewer preference.

Example

In this failing file the catalog has neither a metadata stream nor viewer preferences. The only title is a file name in the Info dictionary:

1 0 obj
<< /Type /Catalog
   /Pages 2 0 R
   /StructTreeRoot 5 0 R
   /MarkInfo << /Marked true >>
>>
endobj

9 0 obj                      % Info dictionary
<< /Title (Microsoft Word - Report_v3.docx) >>
endobj
Failing: no /Metadata, no /ViewerPreferences

The corrected catalog points to an XMP metadata stream and asks viewers to show the title:

1 0 obj
<< /Type /Catalog
   /Pages 2 0 R
   /StructTreeRoot 5 0 R
   /MarkInfo << /Marked true >>
   /Metadata 10 0 R
   /ViewerPreferences << /DisplayDocTitle true >>
>>
endobj
Fixed: catalog with /Metadata and /DisplayDocTitle true
<rdf:Description rdf:about=""
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
  <dc:title>
    <rdf:Alt>
      <rdf:li xml:lang="x-default">Annual Report 2025 – City of Example</rdf:li>
    </rdf:Alt>
  </dc:title>
</rdf:Description>
Fixed: dc:title in the XMP metadata stream (object 10)

The /Title entry in the Info dictionary should contain the same text, so that older software shows the same title.

How to fix it

Microsoft Word

Microsoft 365 and Word 2016 or later for Windows:

  1. Open File > Info. In the properties on the right, click Title and enter a title that describes the document, for example “Annual Report 2025 – City of Example”. Alternatively use Properties > Advanced Properties, tab Summary.
  2. Choose File > Save As or File > Save a Copy and select PDF as the file type. In the Save As dialog, select Options.
  3. Under the options for non-printing information, keep Document properties and Document structure tags for accessibility checked. Confirm with OK and save.
  4. Open the PDF and look at the title bar or tab. If it shows the title, the title is present and displayed. If it shows the file name, DisplayDocTitle is missing; set it in Acrobat as described below.

On a Mac, choose File > Save As, select PDF and choose Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online service). Check the result in the same way.

Adobe InDesign

  1. Choose File > File Info and enter the title in Document Title. InDesign carries it into the PDF metadata on every export.
  2. Choose File > Export, select Adobe PDF (Print) or Adobe PDF (Interactive) and enable Create Tagged PDF.
  3. On the Advanced tab, set Display Title to Document Title instead of File Name. The document language is set on the same tab.
  4. Export and check the title bar in Acrobat or another viewer.

Adobe's older InDesign accessibility guide recommends setting the title display afterwards in Acrobat. Current InDesign versions have the Display Title option in the export dialog itself, so the setting is repeated automatically for every new version of the document.

Adobe Acrobat Pro

Menu names as in Adobe's help for the current Acrobat Pro interface (July 2025):

  1. Choose All tools > Prepare for accessibility > Check for accessibility and start the check.
  2. In the Accessibility Checker panel, open the options menu of the failed Title rule and choose Fix. Enter the title in the Description dialog box; deselect Leave As Is if necessary.
  3. Manual route: hamburger menu (Windows) or File menu (macOS) > Document properties. On the Description tab, enter the title in Title. On the Initial View tab, choose Document Title in the Show list. Select OK and save the file.
  4. Run the check again, or check the file again with our PDF accessibility checker, which reads dc:title and DisplayDocTitle directly.

Check your PDF

Upload the fixed file to see which machine-checkable criteria it meets now. The report lists the remaining problems with their pages.

Open the checker

Questions

Is the file name not enough?
No. PDF/UA requires dc:title in the metadata and DisplayDocTitle true. File names also change when documents are downloaded or forwarded by email, while the title stays in the file.
What makes a good title?
A short, specific description of the content, for example “Building permit application – guidance notes (March 2026)”. Avoid file names, version numbers on their own and generic words such as “Document”. Whether a title is good can only be judged by a person (Matterhorn condition 06-004).
Does the title have to match the first heading?
No rule requires that. In practice the title is often the main heading or a shortened form of it.

Sources

  1. ISO 14289-1:2014 Document management applications – Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility – Part 1: Use of ISO 32000-1 (PDF/UA-1) – International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  2. ISO 14289-2:2024 Document management applications – Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility – Part 2: Use of ISO 32000-2 (PDF/UA-2) – International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  3. The Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 – PDF Association. Checked on 7 November 2026.
  4. Matterhorn Protocol checks (list of checkpoints and failure conditions) – PDF Association (Tagged PDF School). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  5. PDF18: Specifying the document title using the Title entry in the document information dictionary of a PDF document – W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WCAG 2.2 Techniques). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  6. Create and verify PDF accessibility, Acrobat Pro – Adobe (Acrobat User Guide), 23 July 2025. Checked on 7 November 2026.
  7. Create accessible PDFs – Microsoft Support. Checked on 8 November 2026.
  8. View or change the properties for an Office file – Microsoft Support. Checked on 8 November 2026.
  9. Creating accessible PDFs – Adobe (InDesign User Guide), 24 May 2023. Checked on 7 November 2026.
  10. Interactive PDF export options in InDesign – Adobe (InDesign User Guide), 2 June 2026. Checked on 7 November 2026.