Merge PDF files

How to merge PDF files

1. Add the files. Drag your PDFs onto the box, or choose them from your device. You can add more later. Each file shows its page count and size.
2. Check the first pages. A small picture of the first page of each file helps you tell similar files apart. Anything that is not a PDF, or cannot be read, is marked and left out.
3. Put them in order. Drag a file up or down. If you prefer buttons, or you are using a keyboard or a phone, use Move up and Move down on each file.
4. Read the notices. If a file has bookmarks or fillable form fields, the page tells you they will not be carried over. The pages themselves are.
5. Merge. Press the merge button. A progress line shows how many pages are done. Large files take longer.
6. Download. Save the merged file. If you change the list afterwards, merge again to get an updated file.

Getting the order right

The result follows the list from top to bottom: every page of the first file, then every page of the second, and so on. There is no hidden sorting by name or date, so what you see is what you get.

A few habits save time. Name your files with numbers (01, 02, 03) before you add them, so they land in order. If a packet needs a cover page, add it first. If one file is wrong, remove it instead of clearing everything. And if you need to change the order of single pages inside a file, do that with the reorder tool and merge afterwards.

What the merged file keeps, and what it leaves behind

The tool copies each page into the new file instead of turning it into a picture. That keeps the text selectable and searchable, keeps the page sizes you started with, and avoids the blur that comes from re-saving pages as images. Pictures inside the pages are copied as they are.

• Kept: page content, text, images, page sizes and the way each page is turned.
• Not carried over: bookmarks (the outline in a viewer's side panel) and fillable form fields. What shows on the page stays visible, but you can no longer type into the fields.
• Replaced: the document properties, such as title and author, are not copied from the source files.

If you rely on bookmarks or fillable fields, keep the originals and use the merged file only for reading or printing.

Big files, many files and phones

There is no file limit from us, but there is a physical one: your device has to hold the files, work on them and build the result in memory. Each file is opened one at a time and let go once its pages are copied, which keeps the peak lower than the total size, though not by magic.

A memory meter under the file box compares what you have added with a rough guide for your device. If the bar turns orange or red, expect the job to be slow or to fail. On a phone, merging a few small files is fine; merging a hundred scanned pages may not be. If a job fails, split the work: merge in two rounds, then merge the two results.

Jobs people use this for

• An application packet: cover letter, résumé, references and forms in one file.
• A set of receipts or invoices for an accountant or an expense report.
• School or benefit paperwork that asks for a single attachment.
• A contract with its schedules and exhibits, joined in the right order.
• Scans from a phone app, saved one page at a time, joined into one document.

When a file is refused

A file protected with a password or restrictions cannot be used while it is locked. Unlock it first in the app that locked it, save an unlocked copy and add that copy. A file that is not a PDF, or that is damaged or cut short, is marked in the list with a plain message. The other files stay in the list, so one bad file never costs you the rest of the work.

Related tools

• Reorder, rotate and delete pages

  Fix single pages before or after you merge.

• Split a PDF

  Undo a merge, or pull one section out of a long file.

• Pictures to PDF

  Turn photos into PDF pages, then merge them with other files.

Frequently asked questions