How to edit a PDF for free
Updated 4 min readBy Total PDF Tools
Quick answer
To edit a PDF for free, open Edit PDF, add the file and use the toolbar to place text, images, rectangles, ellipses, lines, freehand drawings and highlights on any page. Items can be moved, resized, restyled and deleted, with undo for mistakes. When you save, your changes are drawn permanently into the page. To change existing text, cover it with a white rectangle and type the new text on top.
Open Edit PDFStep by step
- 1
Open Edit PDF
Go to the Edit PDF tool and add your document.
- 2
Add content
Choose Text, Image, a shape, Draw or Highlight from the toolbar and click on the page where it should go.
- 3
Adjust
Drag to move, use the handles to resize, and change font, size and colour. Double-click a text box to edit it again; Ctrl+Z undoes.
- 4
Save
Download the edited PDF. Your original file is not changed.
What you can and can't edit
Edit PDF adds new content on top of pages. It doesn't reflow or rewrite the original text the way a word processor would, because PDFs store text as positioned characters rather than paragraphs. For small corrections, the white-rectangle method works well; for large rewrites, edit the source document (for example the Word file) and export a new PDF.
Other edits, other tools
Some changes have dedicated tools that do the job better:
- Sign PDF for signatures and dates.
- Watermark PDF for DRAFT or CONFIDENTIAL marks on every page.
- Add Page Numbers and Header & Footer for repeated content.
- Rotate, Reorder, Delete or Insert Blank Pages to change the page structure.
- Edit Metadata to fix the document title shown in readers and search results.
Frequently asked questions
Can I edit the existing text in a PDF?
Not directly. Cover the old text with a white filled rectangle and type the replacement on top. For big changes, edit the original source file.
Can I fill in a form that isn't fillable?
Yes. Add text boxes wherever the form has blanks, then save.
Will my edits show in every PDF reader?
Yes. On saving, edits are drawn into the page itself, so they look the same everywhere.