Free PDF tools
A full suite of PDF tools that run entirely in your browser. Merge multiple PDFs into one, split out specific pages, compress file size, rotate pages, convert to images, add page numbers, or stamp a watermark, all in your browser.
PDF processing uses pdf-lib and PDF.js, both run as JavaScript inside your browser tab. Your PDF is loaded into browser memory, modified, and downloaded back to your device. All processing runs in your browser.
Read the complete PDF tools guide
How the PDF tools work
Two libraries handle everything. pdf-lib reads, modifies, and writes PDF documents at the structural level: pages, fonts, form fields, annotations, metadata. It is what powers merging, splitting, rotating, adding page numbers, and stamping watermarks. PDF.js, maintained by Mozilla, renders PDF pages to pixels. It powers the thumbnail previews and the PDF-to-image converter.
Every tool on this page reads your PDF inside the current browser tab. The JavaScript that does the work comes from this site's own script files, and the file you drop in is opened by that JavaScript directly, with no upload step. The PDF libraries download the first time you add a file or run the action, and your browser then keeps them in its cache until a site update replaces them, so stay connected until your first result has downloaded. They run on the main thread or, for heavier operations, inside a Web Worker so the page stays responsive. The result is a new PDF (or image) that is handed back to you as a download.
The site backs this up with a Content Security Policy of connect-src 'none' in production, which blocks scripts from sending fetch, XMLHttpRequest, or WebSocket requests. You can verify this yourself in DevTools on the verify local page.
In-browser PDF tools vs the alternatives
| Approach | Privacy | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-browser (this site) | All local | Free | Occasional jobs, mobile use |
| Upload-based PDF services | Server-side | Free tier + paid | Public documents, OCR, advanced edits |
| Desktop PDF software | All local | Subscription | Daily professional work, e-signatures |
The trade-off is honest. Browser-based tools cover the everyday PDF jobs (merging two reports, dropping a 20-page report to fit an email limit, rotating a scan that came in sideways) and they cover them locally and for free. For OCR on a thousand scanned pages, or for digital signatures with legal weight, the heavier paid tools still win.
When to use these tools
- Have several reports or scans to send together? Combine PDFs into one before emailing, then trim the file size for email if it lands above an inbox limit.
- Need to share just a couple of pages from a long report? Use page extraction, or remove sections with delete pages.
- Got a scan that opened sideways? Rotate the orientation, and use reorder pages if the scanner shuffled the sequence.
- Preparing a document for distribution? Stamp on page numbers for easier reference, or add a diagonal watermark to mark it as a draft or confidential.
- Want the text out of a PDF for editing or quoting? Pull it with the text extractor. To turn pages into images for a slide deck, save them as JPG files.
- Going the other direction? Take a stack of JPEG photos and turn them into one PDF.
Frequently asked questions
- Are these PDF tools free?
- Yes. Every tool is free to use without an account, and you can process as many files and pages as you like within the size limits (100 MB per PDF, 50 MB per image). The output carries only your content, with no added watermark.
- Are my PDF files uploaded to a server?
- The tools use pdf-lib (for modifying PDFs) and PDF.js (for rendering pages), JavaScript libraries that run inside your browser tab. Your file is read into memory and processed entirely in your browser. Our servers are not involved at any point.
- Is there a file size limit?
- Each PDF can be up to 100 MB (in Merge PDF, all files together can total 100 MB). Larger files are refused with a message before processing starts. Within that limit your device's memory still matters: older phones can stall on files well under 100 MB.
- Can these tools open password-protected PDFs?
- The tools expect an unlocked PDF. PDF.js can decrypt password-protected files, but the tools on this site do not ask for a password yet, so remove the protection in your PDF viewer or operating system first, then open the file here.
- Are form fields, hyperlinks, and bookmarks preserved?
- It depends on the tool. Rotate, watermark, page numbers, lossless compression, and the metadata editor change your PDF in place and keep its links, form fields, and bookmarks. Merge, split, delete pages, and reorder build a new PDF from your pages: links between the pages you keep still work and links to removed pages are removed, form fields keep their values, but the new file has no document-level form, so viewers may no longer let you fill them in, and bookmarks (the outline tree) are not carried over. Crop PDF's default mode and the High, Medium, and Low compression settings turn the pages they change into images, which removes their selectable text, links, and form fields.
- What happens to my PDF when I close the tab?
- It is freed from memory immediately. There is no IndexedDB cache, no service worker storage, and no leftover blob URL once the tab is gone. Reopening the page gives you a clean slate.
- Why is the compressed PDF sometimes larger than the original?
- PDFs that are already well-optimised (especially text-only documents) have little room left to shrink. The compressor adds a small amount of overhead from its own encoding, which can outweigh the saving. Try a lower quality setting, or accept that the file is already as small as it gets. When the result is not smaller than the original, the tool says so and offers no download.
- Do these PDF tools work on mobile?
- Yes. Safari and Chrome on iOS and Android both support pdf-lib and PDF.js. The drag-and-drop file pickers fall back to a tap-to-pick file flow on touch devices.