PDF Editor
Free app for viewing and editing PDF files
Free app for viewing and editing PDF files
Last updated: 2026-09-10
PDF Editor is a free browser-based app for viewing and editing PDF files. Start here for quick answers about opening files, the page tools, forms and annotations, passwords, saving, privacy, and Google Drive. For step-by-step instructions, see the Help guide.
PDF Editor lets you open a PDF, change it in your browser, and save the result as a PDF. You can rotate, delete, reorder, duplicate, insert and extract pages, merge another PDF in, add text, drawings, highlights, pictures, stamps and a signature, fill in forms, add a watermark or page numbers, protect the file with a password or remove one, and print. The saved file is a real PDF that opens in any PDF reader.
No. Open pdfeditor.co in a current browser and start editing. There is no desktop installer, browser extension, or plug-in. The Google Workspace Marketplace listing is not available yet, but you can still choose files from Google Drive inside the app.
PDF Editor is free to use. You don't need an account to create a PDF or work with a file on your computer. Google sign-in is requested only when you choose a Google Drive action.
Once the app and its PDF engine are loaded, local editing doesn't send your PDF to a PDF Editor server. However, the initial page load, app updates, and all Google Drive actions need a network connection.
PDF Editor opens PDF files up to 100 MiB, including scanned PDFs, PDFs with forms, and PDFs that are password protected. It always saves a PDF; there is no conversion to other document formats.
Yes. PDF Editor asks for the password when the file needs one to open, and asks again after a wrong password. The password is kept only for the current session, never stored. Saving keeps the file protected with the same password; choose Remove password in the Tools menu to save an unprotected copy instead. A PDF that only restricts printing or copying opens without a prompt.
Yes. Choose New PDF from images... in the toolbar's Open menu and pick one or more JPEG or PNG files; each becomes a page at the picture's own size, or on a Letter or A4 sheet turned to fit. Insert > Image as page... in the Organize pages menu adds pictures to a PDF that is already open, and Add image on the toolbar places a picture on a page.
The toolbar has Rotate, Delete page, a Pages sidebar with thumbnails you can select and drag, zoom and fit controls, Find, and the annotation tools Add text, Draw, Highlight, Add signature, Add image and Style. The Organize pages menu adds Duplicate, Move up and down, Insert (a blank page, a picture as a page, or the pages of another PDF), Crop page, Resize pages, Remove other pages, and the whole-document commands Reverse page order, Two pages per sheet, and Flatten form fields. The menu bar above the toolbar holds everything else: File for saving, exporting, printing, document properties, and attachments; Edit for undo, redo, revert, and the page commands; View for zoom, Two-page view, and what is shown; Tools for the annotation tools, stamps, watermarks, page numbers, Whiteout area, and passwords. The tool guide on the start page explains what each one does.
Not in the current version. PDF Editor doesn't rewrite the text that is already on a page, and it has no comment threads and no text recognition (OCR) step for scans. Notes and marks that were already in a PDF are shown but can't be edited in this version. You can add new text over a page, cover an area with Whiteout area... in the Tools menu, and download the page text with File > Export > Text as .txt. A whiteout is a visual cover, not a redaction: the text under it stays in the file.
Yes. Use the Undo and Redo toolbar buttons, or Ctrl/Cmd + Z and Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Z. Page changes and annotations share one history. Revert all changes, in the Edit menu, returns to the PDF as it was loaded at the start of the editing session. A restored recovery draft starts a new Undo history.
Yes. Choose Create New PDF on the start page or New PDF in the toolbar's Open menu. A one-page Letter PDF opens right away. Add pages with Insert > Blank page... in the Organize pages menu, which offers Letter, A4, and the current page's size in either orientation.
Press the Save button or use Ctrl/Cmd + S. A writable PDF can be updated in place after the browser grants permission. Once a file can be saved safely, PDF Editor also autosaves your later changes to it in the background: a Drive PDF you can edit autosaves from the start, and a computer file autosaves after you have saved it once. The status beside the filename shows what has been saved. Recovery drafts never overwrite your files.
Saving pauses instead of silently overwriting the other version, and autosave pauses the same way. You can keep your edit, use the newer version, or save a separate copy. If you're unsure, download or save a copy first so both versions remain available.
Yes. A PDF opened with its password is saved with the same password and the same permissions. Protect with password... in the Tools menu adds or changes a password to open, an owner password, and permission restrictions; the file is written with AES-256 encryption. Remove password saves the file without any protection.
No. A recovery draft is a safety copy stored in this browser on this device. It can help restore unsaved edits after a reload, crash, or accidental tab close. Draft saved to this device means the local safety copy is current; it doesn't mean the PDF on your computer or in Drive was saved. A draft of a password-protected PDF asks for the password again when it is restored; passwords are never stored.
Recovery depends on browser storage, which can be blocked, cleared, or run out of space. Private browsing and strict storage settings can also limit it. If PDF Editor reports that recovery is unavailable, your editing still works, but you should save before closing the tab. Treat recovery as a safety net, not a permanent backup.
Opening, rendering, editing, and writing the saved PDF happen locally in your browser. A file is sent to or received from Google when you choose a Google Drive action.
See the Privacy Policy for details.
PDF Editor requests basic sign-in information and the limited drive.file permission. This lets the app work with files you select in the Google picker or create with PDF Editor; it doesn't grant general access to everything in your Drive. The app also declares drive.install for Drive integration. Short-lived access tokens stay in memory.
Not for files on your computer. Sign-in is needed only for Drive actions. You can revoke PDF Editor in your Google Account at any time; files already saved to your Drive remain yours.
Yes, when your Google account has access. A shared PDF with view-only permission can be opened, but it can't be overwritten. Save your own copy instead.
Use a current version of Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Safari, or another current Chromium-based browser such as Opera. Chrome, Edge, and Opera can ask for permission to save an eligible local file back in place. Firefox and Safari use a save or download flow that creates a new file instead.
Yes. The layout adapts to smaller screens and touch input: the Pages sidebar opens as a sheet, and an Annotate menu on the toolbar gathers the annotation tools and their Style options. Drawing, placing text, and reordering many pages are usually easier on a larger screen.
PDF Editor refuses files larger than 100 MiB. Below that, a PDF full of scanned pages can still need far more memory than its file size while the browser decodes and draws the pages, and every save rebuilds the file in memory. The browser or device can run out of memory even when the file doesn't look unusually large on disk.
Close other memory-heavy tabs or apps, try a device with more memory, or split the work: use Remove other pages... in the Organize pages menu to keep just the pages you need, save that as a smaller PDF, and edit it.
See the Help guide for detailed steps and troubleshooting. If you still need help, email support@pdfeditor.co. Include your browser, operating system, the file size and page count, what you were trying to do, and the exact error text. Don't email a confidential PDF unless you choose to and support specifically asks for it.