The PDF questions you ask, answered straight.

How can I edit a PDF online for free?

Open a free browser-based editor such as PDFEditly, drop your PDF onto the page and edit it straight away. You can change existing text, add new text, images, highlights, shapes and drawings, then download the result. There's no sign-up, no watermark and the file is processed on your own device.

1. 1.Go to the Edit PDF page and choose your file.
2. 2.Pick a tool from the toolbar: text, image, highlight, shape or draw.
3. 3.Click on the page to make your change.
4. 4.Download the edited PDF.

Edit PDF

How do I edit text in a PDF without changing its formatting?

Use an editor that edits the existing text in place rather than covering it with a new text box. In PDFEditly, click the line you want to change and type; it matches the original font, size and color as closely as it can. Fonts embedded as partial subsets may fall back to the nearest match.

1. 1.Open the PDF in the editor.
2. 2.Click directly on the existing text you want to change.
3. 3.Type your correction and check the line still lines up.
4. 4.To change a word everywhere, use Find & Replace instead.

Edit PDFFind & Replace text

What's the best free alternative to Adobe Acrobat?

For everyday jobs like editing text, merging, splitting, compressing, converting to Word or Excel and adding a password, a free browser tool such as PDFEditly covers most of what people use Acrobat for. It needs no install or account. Acrobat is still worth paying for if you need certified digital signatures or advanced prepress features.

1. 1.List the PDF jobs you actually do each month.
2. 2.Check the free tool handles each one without a watermark.
3. 3.Check whether it uploads your files or works on your device.
4. 4.Keep a paid tool only for the jobs it can't cover.

Compare free PDF editorsAll PDF tools

How do I merge or split PDF files?

To merge, open Merge PDF, add two or more files, drag them into the right order and download one combined PDF. To split, open Split PDF, choose the page ranges you want or split every page into its own file, then download. Both are free and run in your browser.

1. 1.Merge: add your files, drag to reorder, then merge.
2. 2.Split: pick a page range or split into single pages.
3. 3.Download the new PDF or PDFs.

Merge PDFSplit PDF

How can I compress a PDF without losing quality?

Choose the lightest compression level that gets the file small enough. PDFEditly's Low setting keeps pages sharpest, Medium balances size and quality, and High shrinks the most. Compression rebuilds each page as an image, so text is no longer selectable afterwards. Keep your original file if you'll need to edit or search it.

1. 1.Open Compress PDF and add your file.
2. 2.Start with Low and check the new file size.
3. 3.Only move to Medium or High if it's still too big.
4. 4.Keep the original alongside the compressed copy.

Compress PDF

How do I delete, reorder or rotate pages in a PDF?

Use the page tool that matches the job. Delete Pages removes the pages you select, Reorder Pages lets you drag pages into a new order, and Rotate PDF turns sideways or upside-down scans the right way up. Each one runs in your browser and downloads a new PDF.

1. 1.Open the tool for the change you need.
2. 2.Select or drag the pages in the preview.
3. 3.Download the updated PDF.

Delete pagesReorder pagesRotate PDF

How do I protect a PDF with a password?

Open Protect PDF, add your file, type a strong password and download the encrypted copy. Anyone who opens it will need that password. PDFEditly encrypts the file in your browser, so neither the PDF nor the password is sent to a server. Store the password safely, because it can't be recovered.

1. 1.Open Protect PDF and choose your file.
2. 2.Enter a long, unique password.
3. 3.Download the protected PDF and test that it asks for the password.
4. 4.Send the password through a different channel than the file.

Protect PDF

Can I edit a PDF without uploading it to a server?

Yes. PDFEditly runs its PDF tools inside your web browser, so your file is opened, edited and saved on your own device instead of being uploaded to a server. That covers editing, merging, splitting, compressing, converting and password protection. It's the safer choice for contracts, IDs and other confidential documents.

1. 1.Open any PDFEditly tool and choose your file.
2. 2.Make your changes; the work happens in your browser tab.
3. 3.Download the result, and close the tab when you're done.

Edit PDFPrivacy policy

Is it safe to use an online PDF editor for confidential documents?

It depends on where the file is processed. Many online editors upload your PDF to their servers, where it may be stored for hours or longer. A browser-based editor that processes files on your device avoids that. Check the privacy policy, and add a password before you share anything sensitive.

1. 1.Read whether the tool uploads files or works locally.
2. 2.Avoid tools that need an account just to edit one file.
3. 3.Password-protect sensitive PDFs before sending them.

Protect PDFWatermark PDF

Can AI summarize a PDF or answer questions about it?

Yes. AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can read a PDF you give them and summarize it or answer questions. They work best on digital text, so scanned files may need OCR first. PDFEditly doesn't include an AI chat, but it can extract clean text for you to paste in.

1. 1.If the PDF is scanned, run it through PDF to Text first.
2. 2.Copy only the sections you want the AI to read.
3. 3.Ask a specific question and check the answer against the source.

PDF to Text

Is it safe to upload a PDF to ChatGPT or other AI tools?

Uploading a PDF to an AI assistant sends it to that company's servers, where it may be stored or used under their data policy. For everyday documents that's often fine. For contracts, medical or financial files, remove personal details first, or extract and share only the passages you actually need.

1. 1.Check the AI tool's data and training settings.
2. 2.Split out only the pages you need with Split PDF.
3. 3.Or extract just the relevant text with PDF to Text.

Split PDFPDF to Text

Does PDFEditly use AI?

No. PDFEditly doesn't send your documents to an AI model and has no AI chat or summary feature. Text recognition in scans uses the open-source Tesseract OCR engine, which runs inside your browser. That keeps your files on your device and means results don't depend on a third-party AI service.

PDF to TextPrivacy policy