13 of Our Favorite Free PDF Editors (September 2024)

Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the SVP and General Manager of Lifewire.

The best PDF editors let you change and add text, edit images, add graphics, sign your name, fill out forms, and more.

Our Favorite PDF Editors

I've taken the time to check out several of these apps and websites to collect a list of exactly what you're looking for. Here's my take after years of using these free PDF editing apps:

If you own a modern version of Microsoft Word, skip all the suggested programs below—you have a great PDF editor at your disposal. To turn a PDF into a Word document, open the file as you would any other and then edit away. This also works in WPS Office and Google Docs.

Sejda PDF Editor

• Lets you load the file from other websites.
• Supports adding hyperlinks.
• Includes a signature tool.
• Remove pages and insert blank pages.
• Supports whiting out parts of the page.
• Can insert images and shapes.
• Auto-deletes your uploads after two hours.

• Limited to files 50 MB or smaller.
  
• Limited to docs with fewer than 200 pages (OCR stops after page 10).
• Can be used on only three PDFs per hour.

Sejda PDF Editor is one of the very few options that lets you edit pre-existing text in the PDF without adding a watermark. Most editors only let you change the text you add yourself, or they support text editing but then throw watermarks all over the place.

Plus, this tool can run entirely in your web browser, so it's easy to get going without having to download any programs. But you can get the desktop version if you'd rather use it that way.

There are some differences between the online and desktop versions that you should know about. For example, the desktop edition supports more font types and doesn't let you add PDFs by URL or from online storage services as the online editor does (which supports Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive).

Another neat feature is the web integration tool. This lets PDF publishers provide a link for their users that they can simply click to automatically open the file in this editor. The finished document can then easily be saved or emailed to the owner.

This tool works no matter which operating system you use. Sejda PDF Desktop runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, but it's a bit more limited and doesn't support 32-bit Windows.

PDFgear

• Edit text and add new text.
• Everything is free (no paid options).
• Signature and form tools.
  
• Zero advertisements and watermarks.
• Includes AI help.

• No signature-style fonts.

PDFgear is a full toolkit for doing pretty much anything you could want to do with a PDF. A few reasons I include it in this list are that it starts up immediately without needing a user account and it saves the document without any watermarks.

Beyond basic PDF viewing and full-text editing are options to add a signature, convert the file to other formats, extract text, annotate and insert your own watermark, rotate and delete pages, add a password, compress the PDF, and more. You can even present the PDF as a slideshow if you want to.

Something I really like is the Extract Text tool. It lets you highlight any part of the page to pull out text into an easily usable text box so you can copy that content. This is great for lists and other situations where selecting PDF text is usually difficult.

This freeware PDF editor runs on Windows 11 and Windows 10, and macOS 10.14 and newer. There's also an app for iPhone and iPad.

TinyWow

• Supports text editing.
• Automatically removes your uploads after an hour.
• No user account necessary.

• Text editor isn't as smooth as the competition.
• Can't modify existing images.

This is often my go-to website for PDF-related functions. TinyWow is an amazing service with loads of free PDF tools, one of which is this editor.

All the functions you need are available here: Edit the PDF's text, add text, highlight and blackout items, include shapes and checkmarks, import the date and time, upload images, and add your signature. You can also delete PDF pages, rotate them, and add new pages to your document.

If you're concerned about your PDFs sitting around on a website when you're done with them, you can rest assured that won't happen here. There's a file manager you can open to manually erase your files if you don't want to wait an hour for them to go away automatically.

Files can be uploaded from your device or your Dropbox account. All edited documents can be saved back to a .pdf file.

Canva

• Edit existing text.
  
• Built-in sharing via link.
• Snap-in guides for precise editing.
• Saves automatically as you work.
• Lots of free storage.
• Easy access to free elements, photos, and more.

• Mixes paid items with free options.
• No easy way to white out text.
• Doesn't retain formatting as well as some editors.
• You must sign in.

Canva is a very capable website for creating unique, high-quality designs. While you could create a project from scratch or a template, another way you can use its editing tools is on a PDF.

Unlike most free tools, Canva lets you fully edit text, and you don't need to sign up to do it. Click any text area to change what the text says and to adjust the font type, size, and color. You can also add hyperlinks to text and other objects, and special fonts are available to easily type out your signature.

Of course, because this is a full graphic design platform, it has a wealth of other tools so you can also edit images, add shapes, edit and build PDF pages, include charts, etc. Most of my media is on Google Photos, so I was happy to find that I could connect to it (and Dropbox, Instagram, and Facebook) to easily copy things like images into my PDF.

PDFs you edit with Canva can't exceed 100 MB or 300 pages, so this isn't ideal if your document exceeds those parameters. When you're done, you can save it back to PDF or choose from various image and video formats.

JustSignPDF.com

• No uploading; works locally in your browser.
• Intuitive interface.
• No ads.

• PDF signing is its only feature.

This website is incredibly simple, which is good or bad, depending on what you want it to do.

I include this PDF editor website in the list because it lets you easily sign your name. There aren't any extra features that get in the way, it doesn't put a watermark on your document, and it's just overall very easy to use if you need a quick way to add your signature to a PDF.

If you want to, you can also include your written name and a date.

Because not all of these editors support the same features, and some are restricted in what you can do, remember that you can process the same PDF in more than one tool. For example, use one that lets you edit the PDF text and then put the same PDF through a different editor to fill out a form, update an image, remove a page, etc.

Inkscape

• Can edit PDF text.
• Supports manipulating graphics.
• Includes lots of image-editing tools.

• The number of graphics-editing tools can be overwhelming.

Inkscape is an extremely popular free image viewer and editor, so it might surprise you, as it did me, to find out that it also has PDF editing functions that most dedicated editors support only in their paid editions.

This is a very capable image editing program. If you're not already familiar with programs like GIMP or Photoshop, however, then it's probably a bit advanced for you.

In the context of PDF editing, you should consider this software only if you want to delete or edit the images or text in the PDF. I suggest using a different tool in this list to edit forms or add shapes, and then plug that PDF into Inkscape if you need to actually edit the preexisting text.

You can install it on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Smallpdf Online PDF Editor

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• Lets you add more text to the PDF.
• Can put white space over areas you want to erase.
• Supports importing shapes.
• Can load and save PDFs from various sources.

• Text editing costs.
• Limited to working on one PDF per day.

One of the quickest ways to add images, text, shapes, or your signature to a PDF is with Smallpdf. I find it extremely easy to use for those things, but I opt for one of the editors that top this list if I need to edit the text because this one won't do it for free.

I also like that you can upload a PDF, make changes to it, and then save it back to your computer, all without needing to make a user account or pay for any anti-watermarking features. Files can be uploaded from Dropbox or Google Drive.

Importing shapes is possible if you want a rectangle, square, circle, arrow, or line. You can change the object's main color and line color, as well as the thickness of its edge.

Text size can be small, regular, medium, large, or extra large, but you can't change the font type, just the color.

When finished editing the PDF, you can decide where you want it saved; to your device or your Dropbox account. You can also generate a share link that anyone can use to download the PDF.

After editing one document, you'll have to wait several hours to keep using the site or upgrade/pay.

It works with all operating systems that support a modern web browser.

LibreOffice Draw

• Edits any text on the page.
• Doesn't leave a watermark.
• Lots of other editing features.

• Must download the whole suite of programs just to use the PDF editor.

Draw is LibreOffice's flowchart and diagram program, but it also lets you open and edit PDFs. One of the neat things I like about editing PDFs with this program is that it's made for creating and manipulating objects, so I can just as easily edit non-text things, too, like images, headings, colors, etc.

This freeware PDF editor works with Windows, macOS, and Linux. When you're ready to save, don't use the typical save option; go instead to File > Export As to find the PDF option.

SimplePDF

• No user account needed.
• Ad-free website.
• Easy-to-use, intuitive controls.
  

• Can't edit existing text.
• No undo option when deleting pages.

SimplePDF is a website with several PDF editing tools built specifically for editing and filling out PDF forms.

While you can't edit existing text like some of the competition, it does support adding text, as well as checkboxes, signatures, and pictures. This might be enough for you, depending on what you need from a PDF editor.

A few reasons I like this website so much are that it's not cluttered with ads, and saving the PDF is fast and easy without a watermark or user account necessary.

If there are multiple PDFs you want to merge into one document, SimplePDF can do that, too. You can also rearrange the pages, rotate them, and delete individual pages.

PDFescape Online PDF Editor

• Works online through your web browser.
• Includes lots of tools.
• Lets you add your own text and images.
• Can delete and add PDF pages.

• Can't edit existing text, unless you pay.
• Limits the PDF size and page length.

PDFescape has quite a lot of features. It's free as long as the document doesn't exceed 100 pages or 10 MB.

You can't truly change text or edit images for free using this editor, but you can add your own text, images, links, form fields, etc.

The text tool is very customizable so that you can pick your own size, font type, color, and alignment, and apply effects such as bolding, underlining, and italics.

You also can draw on the PDF, add sticky notes, strikethrough text, put white space over anything you want to disappear, and insert lines, checkmarks, arrows, ovals, circles, rectangles, and comments.

PDFescape lets you delete individual pages from the PDF, rotate pages, crop out parts of a page, reorganize the order of the pages, and add more pages from other PDFs.

You can upload a PDF file, paste the URL to an online PDF, and make your own PDF from scratch.

When finished editing, you can download the PDF to your computer without ever having to make a user account. You need one only if you want to save your progress online without downloading the PDF.

The online version works on all operating systems. There's also an offline editor that runs on Windows, but it isn't free.

PDF-XChange Editor

• Uses OCR to identify the text in the PDF.
• Can import a variety of shapes and images.
• Supports adding QR codes to the PDF.
• Offers a portable version.
• Frequent updates.

• Many features require a license.
• Works with Windows only.

PDF-XChange Editor offers some great tools, but not all of them are free to use. If you use a non-free feature, the PDF will save with a watermark on every page.

If you stick to just the free features, however, you can still do some editing and save it back to your computer.

You can load PDFs from your computer, a URL, SharePoint, Google Drive, and Dropbox. You can save the edited PDF back to your computer or to any of those cloud storage services.

There are lots of features, so it might seem overwhelming at first. Having said that, I found all the options and tools to be simple to understand, and they're categorized into their own sections for easier management.

One handy feature is the ability to highlight all the form fields so that you can easily spot where you need to fill in. I tried this with a few applications with lots of forms. Super helpful.

Many of the features are free (like editing the text), but some are not. If you use a feature that's not covered by the free version (you're told which ones aren't free when you use them), the saved PDF file will have a watermark attached to the corner of every page. There's a comprehensive list of all the free features on the download page.

You can use PDF-XChange Editor if you're on Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7. It's also available in portable mode to use on a flash drive.

PDF BOB

• Super easy to use.
• No user account required.
• Supports multiple conversion methods.
• Use it in several languages.
• Zero ads and saves without a watermark.

• Doesn't edit existing text.
• Few font options.
• Only one upload source (your computer).

PDF BOB is a free online PDF editor that requires no user account. Just upload your file, make the changes you need to, and then export it to PDF again to finish up.

There are several tools here, like a text option that lets you select a custom color and font type, an image picker, a colored pencil/marker, and a few shape tools.

It uses OCR to identify the text, so things like the strikeout and underline tool look great, and all you have to do is double-click the word you want to apply it to.

You can also use this website to delete pages from the PDF and add new ones to it. When you save, there's even a password option to secure the document.

When you're done editing, export to the PDF format or, if you log in, JPG and PNG. Files can be saved back to your computer or imported directly into Google Drive or Dropbox.

PDFelement

• Lets you edit the PDF's text directly.
• Supports adding images, links, and custom watermarks.
• The background of the PDF pages can be edited.
• Headers and footers can be included in the PDF.
• Supports combining several PDFs into one.
• PDF pages can be cropped.
• Can insert, extract, delete, and rotate PDF pages.
• Editing embedded forms is easy.
• Can password-protect the PDF.

• Free version places a watermark on the PDF.
• Requires large OCR feature download.
• Must log in to save the document.

PDFelement is free, but with a major limitation: It places a watermark on every page of the document. That being said, the watermark is behind everything, so you can still see the content, and it's important to realize that it supports some truly great PDF editing features.

Depending on what you'll use the PDF for, the features it supports might be enough for you to consider living with the watermarks. When you're done editing, you can save it back to PDF or any of the several other supported formats, including Word and other MS Office formats. To export or save, you have to have a Wondershare account.

Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS are supported.

Converting PDFs

You don't need to edit a PDF to convert it. If you just need to change it to another format (such as .docx for Microsoft Word or .epub for an eBook), see this list of free document converters for help.

To edit a PDF on Chromebook, use a third-party app like Sejda, DocFly, or Soda PDF. Most Chromebooks do not come with a PDF editor app by default.

To edit PDFs on an iPhone or iPad, go to Files, open a PDF, then swipe from the left edge of the screen to open the thumbnail view. Press and hold a page to open the edit menu.

To make a PDF file in Word, go to File > Save as > PDF. On Google Docs, go to File > Download > PDF Document (.pdf). On Mac Pages, go to File > Print > Save as PDF.

To combine PDF files, use the Soda PDF online merge tool. Select Choose file, then select a PDF and click Open. Repeat for the second PDF and select Merge Files.