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Free online PDF editor for every document.

Everything you need to work with PDFs: edit text, sign, convert, compress, organise and protect documents right in your browser, in seconds.

Drop your files here

or

PDF, PNG, JPG, WEBP, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument, Text · up to 100 MB

  • No account required
  • Edits run in your browser
  • Private by default
Edit PDFPDF to WordMergeCompressSign

How to edit a PDF online

Simple steps to get started

  1. 1

    Upload your PDF file

    Drag it in or pick it from your device. Word, Excel and images work too.

  2. 2

    Edit, customise, sign, merge and more

    Change text, highlight, add signatures, reorder pages, with undo for everything.

  3. 3

    Download the updated file

    Rename it and download, or keep working with another tool.

See it in action

See the online PDF editor in action

Watch the editor change text, highlight, sign, redact and more. Then open the same document and try it yourself.

Double-click any text and type. The original is replaced in the PDF.

PDF tools

All the PDF tools you need, in one place

Pick what you need. Each tool explains itself, and they all share the same upload, editor and download.

Edit PDF

Change text, add images, shapes and more. In your browser

Add Text

Type anywhere on a page. In your browser

Whiteout

Cover content with clean white boxes. In your browser

Highlight

Highlight, underline and strike text. In your browser

Draw

Freehand pen, lines and arrows. In your browser

Annotate

Comments, sticky notes and stamps. In your browser

Add Images

Place, crop and rotate images. In your browser

Add Shapes

Rectangles, circles, arrows, clouds. In your browser

Sign PDF

Type, draw or upload a signature. In your browser

Merge PDF

Combine files into one PDF. In your browser

Split PDF

Divide a PDF into separate files. In your browser

Rotate PDF

Turn pages the right way up. In your browser

Rearrange Pages

Drag pages into a new order. In your browser

Delete Pages

Remove pages you don't need. In your browser

Extract Pages

Pull selected pages into a new PDF. In your browser

Page Numbers

Number your pages. In your browser

Header & Footer

Text, dates and page numbers. In your browser

PDF to Word

Editable DOCX from a PDF. In your browser

PDF to JPG

Every page as a JPG image. In your browser

PDF to PNG

Lossless page images. In your browser

PDF to Excel

Extract tables to XLSX. Secure cloud

PDF to PowerPoint

Slides from PDF pages. Secure cloud

PDF to Text

Plain text from every page. In your browser

Word to PDF

DOCX, XLSX, PPTX to PDF. Secure cloud

Excel to PDF

Spreadsheets to PDF. Secure cloud

PowerPoint to PDF

Slides to PDF. Secure cloud

JPG to PDF

Images into a PDF. In your browser

PNG to PDF

PNG images into a PDF. In your browser

Compress PDF

Shrink file size, keep quality. In your browser

OCR PDF

Make scans searchable. Secure cloud

Repair PDF

Recover damaged files. In your browser

Flatten PDF

Bake in forms and annotations. In your browser

Protect PDF

Add a password. In your browser

Unlock PDF

Remove passwords and restrictions. In your browser

Redact PDF

Permanently remove sensitive data. In your browser

Watermark

Stamp text or a logo on pages. In your browser

Fill PDF

Complete interactive forms. In your browser

Create PDF Form

Add fillable fields. In your browser

Why PDFella

Why choose PDFella's free PDF editor

Fast to start, private by default, and the files you download are real, well-made PDFs.

  • Instant

    Works immediately

    No sign-up, no install, no trial. Drop a file and you're editing in seconds.

  • Private

    Private by design

    Editing and most conversions run on your device. Cloud tools delete files automatically.

  • Quality

    Real PDF output

    Text stays text and vectors stay vectors. Exports open in any PDF reader.

  • Performance

    Built for big files

    Pages render lazily, so 500-page documents stay smooth.

Features

Everything you need to work with PDFs

One editor for changing text, converting formats, annotating, signing, OCR and organising pages.

Edit

Edit PDF text directly, not just on top.

Double-click any sentence to edit the original text in place. Add new text with full typographic control, cover content with whiteout, insert images and shapes, with unlimited undo.

  • Edit existing text
  • Fonts, sizes, colours
  • Whiteout and replace
  • Images, shapes, links
Open the editor

Convert

Convert PDF to Word, Excel and images in seconds.

Turn PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images and text. PDF to Word runs right in your browser with live progress. Office files and images become clean PDFs.

  • PDF ⇄ Word
  • PDF → Excel and PowerPoint
  • PDF ⇄ JPG / PNG
  • Office → PDF
Convert a PDF

Annotate

Annotate and highlight PDFs like paper.

Highlight passages, draw freehand, add arrows and clouds, drop sticky-note comments and approval stamps. Comments are saved as real PDF annotations.

  • Highlight, underline, strike
  • Pen, shapes and arrows
  • Sticky-note comments
  • Stamps, checks and crosses
Annotate a PDF

Sign

Sign PDFs online from any device.

Type your name in a handwriting style, draw with a mouse, pen or finger, or upload an image of your signature. Reuse it across the document.

  • Typed, drawn or uploaded
  • Resize and rotate
  • Date and initials fields
  • Never stored without consent
Sign a PDF

OCR

Make scanned PDFs searchable with OCR.

We detect image-only PDFs and offer to recognise their text. The result looks identical, but every word can be searched, selected and copied.

  • Automatic scan detection
  • 100+ languages
  • Searchable text layer
  • Deskew and rotate
Run OCR

Organise

Merge, split and organise PDF pages.

Drag thumbnails to reorder, rotate crooked scans, delete pages, insert blanks or pages from other files, and split documents apart.

  • Drag-and-drop pages
  • Merge and split
  • Rotate and duplicate
  • Page numbers and headers
Organise pages

Secure PDF editor

Your documents are yours. Full stop.

Most work never touches a server. The work that does is short-lived, isolated and encrypted.

0

sign-ups needed

60 min

max file lifetime

AES-256

PDF protection

  • On device

    Local-first editing

    Editing, signing, PDF → Word, compression and protect/unlock run in your browser.

  • Short-lived

    Automatic deletion

    Cloud jobs are deleted after processing, and at most 60 minutes after upload.

  • Encrypted

    Encrypted everywhere

    TLS in transit and private storage reachable only by short-lived signed links.

  • Yours only

    Never used for training

    No document content is logged, analysed or used to train models.

Read how we handle files

Use cases

A PDF editor for students, businesses and teams

Students

Annotate readings, fill application forms, merge assignment files.

Businesses

Sign contracts, update proposals, compress reports for email.

Legal

Redact privileged content, review with comments, sign and date.

Real estate

Complete disclosure forms, initial pages, assemble closing packs.

HR

Onboarding forms, offer letters, policy acknowledgements.

Accountants

Extract tables to Excel, stamp invoices, protect statements.

Designers

Mark up proofs with shapes, arrows and sticky notes.

Public sector

Searchable archives with OCR, standard forms, secure sharing.

Compared

A lighter alternative to desktop PDF software

Everything most people need, without the installer, the licence key or the learning curve.

CapabilityPDFellaDesktop software
Works instantly in the browser
No account or licence key
Edit existing text, sign, annotate
Convert to and from Office
OCR for scanned documentsPaid tier
Files stay on your device for editing
Works on phone and tabletLimited
Installation and updatesNoneRequired

FAQ

Online PDF editor FAQs

Is PDFella free to use?

Yes. Editing, signing, organising and most conversions are free with generous limits and no account. Heavier cloud processing (OCR, Office conversion) has a daily allowance.

Do I need to create an account?

No. Drop a file and start working. Accounts will be optional and only add conveniences like saved signatures and document history.

Are my files uploaded to your servers?

Editing, organising, signing, PDF → Word, compression, protect/unlock and most conversions run entirely in your browser, so the file never leaves your device. Tools marked "Secure cloud" (OCR, Office → PDF) upload the file to private, temporary storage and delete it within 60 minutes.

Can I really edit the existing text in a PDF?

Yes. Double-click any word or sentence and type. The original text is removed from the PDF and replaced at the same position, size and style.

My PDF has a password. Can I still edit it?

Yes. PDFs that only restrict printing, copying or editing open automatically. If a PDF needs a password to open, enter it once and the document becomes fully editable.

Is redaction permanent?

Yes. Redacted content is removed from the file, not just covered. Try selecting or searching the redacted text afterwards. It won't be there.

Do you use my documents to train AI?

No. Documents are never used for training, analytics or anything other than producing the result you asked for.

Your next document is one drop away.

Open the editor and start working. No account, no install, no catch.

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  • No account
  • Runs in your browser
  • Private by default