Merge PDF

About Merge PDF

Merge PDF puts several PDF files into one document, in the order you choose. You can add up to 20 files, take only some pages from each, add page numbers across the whole result, and download a single file. Your files stay on your device. Nothing is uploaded.

It will not take locked PDFs, and the reasons are explained further down.

Add the files first, then fix the order

Drop your PDFs on the box, click it to browse, or paste copied files with Ctrl+V. Each file appears as a row with its size and page count, so you can spot a wrong file before you merge. The limits are 20 files, 150 MB per file and 300 MB in total.

The new document follows the list from top to bottom. Drag a row by its dotted handle, or use the up and down arrows on a phone. Reverse order flips the whole list, which helps when a scanner gave you the pages last-first. Sort A-Z orders by file name and understands numbers, so scan2 comes before scan10.

Take only some pages from a file

Every row has a page box. Leave it empty and the whole file goes in. Type 1-3, 7 and only those pages go in. The tool follows your order exactly as typed, so 7, 2-3, 1 to 2 gives you page 7, then pages 2 and 3, then pages 1 and 2 again. A page can appear more than once.

That makes the page boxes a small reorder tool too. Merge needs two files, so add the same file twice and split the new order between the rows, for example 3, 1 in the first row and 2 in the second. A range outside the file, like 9-12 in a 5-page file, is caught before anything runs, and the message names the file.

Example

A form wants one PDF with your ID proof (2 pages), a bank statement (14 pages) and a signed letter (1 page), but only the first 3 pages of the statement. Add the three files and type 1-3 in the statement's box. The new file has 2 + 3 + 1 = 6 pages.

Page numbers that run across the whole file

Pick a position under Stamp page numbers and a small grey number is added to every page. There are six positions: bottom or top, and left, center or right. You can show a plain number, Page 3, or Page 3 of 12, and you can start counting from any number.

The numbers count pages in the finished file, so blank separators count too. Three files with 4, 6 and 2 pages make 12 pages. With a blank page between the files they make 14.

In the "of" format, the second number is the last number, not the page count. Start at 5 on a 7-page file and the last page reads Page 11 of 11. The numbers sit roughly a quarter to half an inch from the edge, so look at pages that have a stamp or a signature near the border.

If you only want numbers on one existing PDF, the Add Page Numbers to PDF tool does that without merging anything.

A blank page between files

Tick Insert a blank page between files and one empty page is added after each file except the last. The blank page has the same size as the last page of the file before it, so a wide page does not get a tall white page after it. It is handy when you will print the result and want each document easy to tell apart.

What comes through and what does not

Pages are copied across as they are, so text stays selectable and searchable and pages keep their size. Web links keep working, and form fields stay on their pages.

Bookmarks, the outline you see in a reader's side panel, are not carried over. A link that jumps to another page inside its own file lands on the first page of the new document instead, because the page numbers have changed. The title and author of your source files are not copied either. Type your own in the Document title and Author boxes if you want them in a PDF reader's properties. A source file that depends on its bookmarks needs a check before you send the result.

Files that get refused

A PDF with a password to open, or one that opens freely but has editing restrictions, is refused when you add it. The message names the file and links to Unlock PDF. Pages of such a file are scrambled inside, so copying them into a new document gives you blank or broken pages. Remove the lock first, then add the copy without it.

A file that is not a real PDF, even if its name ends in .pdf, is turned away too. So is anything over the size limits.

Name the result and read the numbers

The Output file name box is optional. Without it the download is called MagicalToolz-merged.pdf. Characters that file systems do not allow are removed, and you do not need to type .pdf.

When the merge finishes, you see how many files went in, how many pages came out and the final size. A preview of the first page appears, and the download starts on its own. The Download merged PDF button gives you the same file again.

The tool does not recompress anything, so do not expect big savings. If a form has an upload limit and the result is over it, run the file through Compress PDF. If you only need part of the result, Split PDF cuts it back down.

Continuing a numbered document

The Start numbering at box is not only for beginning at 1. If you send a long document in two parts, the second part can carry on where the first stopped. A first part that ended on page 40 means you type 41, and the second part's first page reads 41.

The same box helps when the merged file is an appendix that should follow a main report. Merge the appendix pages alone, start at the next number, and the two printouts line up.

Check the result before you send it

The summary after merging is a quick test. Compare the pages-in-output figure with the sum you expect. If the numbers differ, a page range is usually the cause, either one you forgot to clear or one typed with a slip.

Then scroll through the file itself and look at the joins. A sideways page or a blank page in the wrong place shows up at a glance. The preview only shows the first page, so it will not catch these for you.

When you hit the limits

Twenty files or 300 MB sounds like plenty until a month of scanned invoices arrives. Merge in rounds. Join 10 files into one, join the next 10 into another, then merge those two results. Page numbers are best added at the last round, so they run across the whole document once.

When photos or scans are the starting point

This page joins PDFs only. Photos of documents need to become PDFs first, and Image to PDF does that. Then bring the new PDFs here. Phone scans often come out sideways, and a sideways page stays sideways after merging, so fix it before you merge.

Where your files go

The merge happens in your browser tab. The PDFs are not uploaded or stored, and they are gone when you close the tab. If the files hold private details, use a device and browser you trust, because anyone who can use that computer can see what you opened on it.