The Best Free PDF Editors

PDFs have been around for a long while, which means they’re widely supported and you can view one on just about any device. But one of their great attractions – the fact that recipients can’t change the formatting or content – is also one their drawbacks.

What do you do if you need to make a change because of an error or some out-of-date information in a PDF?

The answer is a PDF editor. This is different from an app that merely lets you view a PDF, so if you find you need to edit one of these documents on your laptop or mobile device, there are plenty of online services (and apps), many of which are completely free.

And it’s those free ones that we’re looking at here. So without further ado, here are the best free PDF editors for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.

・Adobe Acrobat Reader

・Canva

・Sedja

・Preview (built into macOS)

・PDF Candy

・PDF Escape

・Adobe Acrobat Reader

・PDF Element

・Xodo PDF Reader and Editor

・Adobe Acrobat Reader

・PDF Expert

・PDF Element

Now you know the ones we recommend, here’s a closer look at each of them.

Pros

・Good set of features

・Free versions covers a lot of the basics

Cons

・Can't convert documents or edit existing text

・Paid tier is expensive

Price When Reviewed: Free (Standard $12.99 p/m) Best Prices Today:

$0 at Adobe

The obvious place to start with PDFs is the company that invented them in the first place – Adobe. Its free offering is Adobe Acrobat Reader, which gives you a fair amount of features that can make working with PDF files a breeze. Using the array of tools on offer, you can drop text into documents by the quick creation of text fields, then annotate things like checkboxes or areas where you have to circle your choices, all of which is accomplished by the built-in graphic options.

If you need to sign off on a document, then you can create a digital signature via your mouse or trackpad, then drop it onto the page. It should be noted that this is different to Adobe’s e-sign service which offers a higher level of security but only comes with the paid tiers of Acrobat.

For more customisation, possibly if you’re working with others on the layout of a document, there are the abilities to highlight, strikethrough or draw attention to certain parts of the page via arrows, box outlines or simply freehand drawing. When you’re done you can save the document and then send it to your desired recipient.

There are restrictions though, as if you want convert a document to or from a PDF format, edit the actual content of the PDF itself, compress the file size, organise the pages or anything outside the basic editing mentioned above, then you’ll need to sign up to at least the Adobe Acrobat Standard tier, which currently costs $12.99/£13.14 per month. But, if your needs are modest, then the free app should cover most of the tasks you wish to accomplish.

Pros

・Colorful graphics

・Online

Cons

・Might be a bit too arty for some workplaces

Price When Reviewed: Free (Pro $14.99 p/m) Best Prices Today:

$0 at Canva

Canva might be more famous for its design software, which is excellent by the way, but on its site there is also a very useful PDF editor. It can do the standard stuff you’d expect, such as added text to forms, highlighting areas or annotating the document. The design background of Canva quickly becomes apparent though, as you’ll find many of the tools have a graphical element that makes them a bit more fun than the other sedate offerings you’ll find on this list.

There are plenty of arrows, frames and clip-art style graphics that you can add, not to mention tables and graphs. Admittedly, the latter is more of a visual queue rather than a highly detailed report, but if you want to show a percentage of something to aid the reader, then Canva allows that in a colorful and interesting way.

There’s also an array of fonts that can be utilised to bring a bit of a life to a document, but if you only want to fill in forms for professional purposes then you can ignore all these and just get on with the job in hand.

If you’re looking for a way to create PDFs from scratch, with a designer flair, then Canva should be your first port of call.

There’s also a Pro version which opens up even more creative elements and this currently costs $14.99/£10.99 per month.

Pros

・Nice, simple design

・Good selection of tools

Cons

・Daily limits on free tier

Price When Reviewed: Free (Premium $7.50 p/m) Best Prices Today:

$0 at Sejda

If the colors and graphics of Canva are a bit much for you, then Sedja is a simple but powerful solution that’s well worth your time. The online version has a free tier that gives you access to all the tools you’ll need so long as you’re willing to accept the limits of up to 200 page or 50Mb files sizes, only three tasks (Edit, Compress, Fill & Sign etc.) per hour, and the files get deleted from the Sedja servers after two hours. If that’s too restrictive, then you can buy a weekly pass for $5/£5, move to the monthly plan for $7.50/£7.50 per month or take the Desktop+Web option for $63/£63 per year that also gives you access to the desktop version.

Whichever you choose, you’ll find Sedja easy to use thanks to its clean and efficient design. The tool bar sits across the top of the page, and follows when you scroll down. Here you’ll find all the features for completing a form or annotating a document. Text boxes can be dropped onto the page easily, while the shapes available give you the ability to create questions or point out things that need to be altered or clarified.

The Forms tool provides ticks and markers for checkboxes, as well as the option to create new form fields. You can also create a digital representation of your signature by either drawing it freehand with your mouse or typing in your name and then selecting from one of the signature styles on offer which make it look more like it was written.

Sedja is a very nice editor to use and should cover enough ground for those who just want to complete a form or collaborate with work colleagues to hone a design.

Pros

・Already on your Mac

・Does the basics well

Cons

・Can't handle more advanced tasks

Price When Reviewed: Built into macOS

If you’re after the rudimentary features of a PDF editor, such as being able to add text fields to forms, create signatures or add comments and annotations, then you don’t have to download any additional software as Preview in macOS can do all this and more.

Once you’ve opened the PDF in Preview, you can use the Tools option in the Menu Bar to access various features. With these you can annotate the document with highlights, underline certain text, and even strikethrough parts that you want to correct or have omitted from the final draft. There’s also a handy redaction tool if you need to block out sensitive information, although be aware that this permanently removes the data, so you’ll need to retain an unredacted version of the document if you need that information.

As mentioned above, you can create text boxes that allow you to fill out forms, plus you can use the Markup Toolbar icon to access more features, including creating a signature, being able to draw on the document, and insert notes. One drawback is that you can only save the amended document as a PDF, JPEG, TIFF, HEIC, OpenEXR or PNG, but not in Word or Pages format. For those kinds of features you’ll need another app.

For most people though, Preview is all you really need for working with PDFs, plus it’s already on your Mac and doesn’t cost a penny.

Pros

・Online

・Impressive range of features

Cons

・Can be glitchy on Chrome

Price When Reviewed: Free Best Prices Today:

$0 at icecreamapps

Another great free PDF editor for Mac is PDF Candy. This is an online service so it actually works with Windows and Chromebooks too, plus you can access it via the browser on a mobile device, so it’s something of an all-rounder.

On the home page you’re offered a seriously impressive range of options, these range from the standard editing of a PDF to converting different document types to PDF or vice versa, compressing PDF files sizes, as well as extracting text or images from an existing PDF. Pretty comprehensive.

To get started, select the feature you want, then import your existing document. Now, simply select the option from the toolbar on the left side of the screen and apply the changes to the PDF. You can use the normal features of inserting text boxes which can then be resized and repositioned, highlighting text, striking through text, adding arrows and other forms of annotation, plus creating and applying a signature. When you’re finished, simply hit the Export File option to download the amended PDF.

One thing we noticed, on the Chrome browser there were several instances where functions wouldn’t work properly, such as the site automatically repositioning text after we’d edited it. Moving to Safari cleared all of these issues and PDF Candy worked very well indeed.

Pros

・Plenty of tools for basic editing

・More suited to annotating forms

Cons

・10MB file size limit

Price When Reviewed: Free (Premium costs $5.99 p/m) Best Prices Today:

$0 at PDF Escape

Sticking with online editors, PDF Escape might have a weird name, but it also boasts some decent features on the free tier. Like PDF Candy, you upload documents to the web and work from there. It’s a little less powerful, but this is due to there being paid tiers which naturally keep some of the more useful tools back. That being said, you can still get a lot done for free.

The workspace is similar to that of PDF Candy, in that the tools are on the left and the page layout is in the central pane. You can select from three types of features – Insert, Annotate, and Page. As these suggest, each section has tools for certain types of jobs. Insert allows for text, images, hotlinks and other elements to be added to the document. Annotate is where you’ll find the highlighting, underlining, notes and similar things. While Page gives you the ability to reorder, reorientate, crop and append the pages within the PDF.

There’s a 10MB file size limit on the free tier though, and you can’t digitally sign a document, unless you’re really good with the freehand pencil option or have an image of one that you can upload. There’s also no option to edit the existing text or images in a PDF, convert to Word formats or redact information without moving up to one of the paid tiers. That will cost you $5.99 per month or $35.88 per year for Premium (around £4.80 and £29), or $8.99 per month ($71.88 per year) for Ultimate. That’s around £7 and £58 if you’re in the UK, although you’ll pay in dollars. Ultimate allows for digitally signing and sealing of a document as well as the redaction tool.

PDF Escape isn’t as good as PDF Candy (we saw a few glitches while testing it) and lacks some of features. Still, it’s does have some good tools and, since it’s free, is another option if PDF Candy doesn’t do what you want it to.

Pros

・Solid performance

・Good form filling and annoatation tools

Cons

・More powerful features are on paid tier

Price When Reviewed: Free (Premium costs $9.99p/m) Best Prices Today:

$0 at Adobe

Adobe has appeared several times throughout this roundup, as the company invented PDFs and continues to offer plenty of options when it comes to editing them. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is a good choice for basic operations on Andoid, as you can import a document, highlight sections, make annotations, enter text and create a signature. It’s true that much of the power of this app is hidden behind the rather considerable pay-wall that currently costs $9.99/£8.99 per month, but if you only need the features mentioned above, then it will get the job done for free.

Should you wish to upgrade, then you’ll be able to create PDFs from scratch, edit existing text and images, convert other documents to PDF, rearrange the orientation and order of pages, not to mention combine multiple files into a single document.

Alternatively, there’s also the stripped down Adobe Fill & Sign app that does what its name suggests and allows you to quickly enter text fields in forms and create a digital signature, all for free.

Pros

・Clean and easy to use

・A wide range of features

Cons

・Can't add new text fields

Price When Reviewed: Free Best Prices Today:

$0 at Wondershare

Wondershare is a company that’s been providing software solutions for a good while now, with a portfolio that contains video editors, phone maintenance tools and quite a few others. PDF Element is the one that’s pertinent to us though, as it’s another app that lets you make adjustments and annotations to existing documents.

With the app you’re able to underline, strikethrough, highlight, draw and erase the text. You can also choose the Text option and edit the existing words or replace them with new ones. The shapes feature includes useful things like arrows, squares and circles that can be used to draw attention to areas of the document, and there’s also a Stamp feature that you can deploy to mark documents as Approved, Confidential or a range of other words that make it look like a secret dossier from a spy novel.

You can add a digital signature to the documents, created by using your finger to draw on on the phone, but curiously there seems to be no way to add new text fields, which would make it impossible to fill out forms. The Wondershare site does state that the iOS version is more powerful, so maybe that feature is only available on that platform.

So, if you need to mark up documents rather than fill them in, PDF Element is nice to use, has a certain charm, and is of course free.

Pros

・Nice user interface

・Great selection of tools

Cons

・Limited to three actions per day

Price When Reviewed: Free (Pro tier $12 p/m) Best Prices Today:

$0 at Apryse Software

Xodo might not be a name that’s immediately familiar, but the company has certainly put together an impressive package in the form of its PDF Reader & Editor. The layout is simple and easy to get to grips with, plus there’s a wide range of tools at your disposal.

As you’d expect, there are the standard annotation, text entering and digital signing capabilities. There’s also stamps, hyperlink support, the ability to add audio and text notes, insert images, freeform drawing, as well as dedicated icons that can be used to drop into checkboxes.

The only drawback is that the free tier only allows three ‘actions’ a day. These include editing, outputting to different formats such as Word, Merging pages, Compressing file sizes, that sort of thing. If you only need to edit the occasional PDF, then this won’t be a problem, but if it’s something you do regularly then you’ll want to move up to the Pro tier, which features unlimited actions as well as some additional features. That costs a whopping $108/£104.99 per year or $12/£11.99 each month, so you might want to see how you get on with the free version first.

Pros

・Good for reading, filing in and signing forms

・Clean interface

Cons

・Limited feature-set compared to some others

Price When Reviewed: Free (Premium $9.99 p/m) Best Prices Today:

$0 at Adobe

If you want to edit PDFs on your iPhone or iPad, Adobe’s Acrobat Reader is a good place to start. The free tier is somewhat limited, as it’s mainly there for reading, filling in and signing PDFs. If you want to be able to edit the content of the document, use more advanced annotation tools, convert to other formats, compress file sizes, set passwords or use the OCR feature to search the text within images on the page, then you’ll need to move up to the Premium tier that currently costs $9.99/£9.99 each month.

The interface itself is quite easy to get along with. You tap the edit button to start making your changes, then tap and hold the area that you want to add text. If you need to add ticks, crosses or dots to signify a choice on a form it’s the same process, only this time you select the icon that matches what you’re after.

Boxes can be used to indicate choices or highlight parts of the text you want the reader to focus on, and these can be reshaped just by tapping and dragging the edges. You can also strikethrough text and add a digital representation of your signature.

It’s basic at best, but the simple mechanics and perfunctory tools mean you can quickly fill in a form and sign it off, so if that’s all you’re after, Adobe Acrobat Reader is the one to choose.

Pros

・Covers a lot of ground

・Easy to use

Cons

・No digital signature on free version

Price When Reviewed: Free 7-day trial, then $79.99 annually Best Prices Today:

$79.99 at Readdle

PDF Expert is a product by Readdle, whom many iOS users will be familiar with due to their impressive Spark email app, Documents files manager, Calendars productivity app and Scanner Pro app. Add to this PDF Expert and you’ve got a pretty comprehensive collection of software solutions to most work-related tasks.

You get some decent tools on the free tier, such as being able to enter text in forms, highlight text, underline, strikethrough, add shapes such as circles or arrows, append notes to parts of the text, plus there’s a stickers option if you want to add a bit of fun.

One of the things you can’t do on the free version is enter a digital signature, as this is reserved for the Premium plan, which is a pity as its inclusion would make this an excellent option for those who just need the basics. There’s also no facility to convert a PDF to Word, Excel or other formats without paying.

One thing worth noting is that the Premium tier (which currently costs $79.99/£72.99 per year) also gives you access to PDF Expert on the Mac, so it’s not bad value if you edit and create a lot of PDFs.

Pros

・Simple to learn

・Comprehensive features

Cons

・Documents are watermarked on free tier

Price When Reviewed: Free (Pro costs $6.99 p/m) Best Prices Today:

$0 at Wondershare

PDF Element is available for iOS as well as Android, but Wondershare seems to have given the iPhone and iPad version a bit more love as it comes with a few extra features.

The main difference is being able to add text fields, which makes it much better to use when completing forms. There’s also the standard range of features, including highlighters, free-form drawing, stamps that can make it easier to mark out areas that need signing or correction, digital signatures, comments and notes, shapes, as well as underlining and striking out text.

The only downside is that any document you save on the free tier will contain a watermark, so if you want a clean PDF at the end you’ll need to pay for it. This isn’t that much of an ask though, as it costs $6.99/£6.99 per month and you can cancel at any time.

・Best PDF Editors

・How to convert a JPG to PDF

・How to add a tick symbol in a PDF

・How to add a digital signature to a PDF

Best free PDF editor (2023)

The best free PDF editors let you edit, and work together on files without subscriptions or fees. 

Top PDF editors offer everything you need for creating, editing, and collaborating on documents. In many cases, the best PDF editors on the market require a subscription or one-off purchase to access. But you don't need to compromise on features if you don't invest in document editing software. When you need the best PDF editor free, there are plenty of platforms that deliver advanced tools at no charge.

We’ve tested free PDF editors online and for Android, Windows, Mac, iOS, and iPad. As part of our review process, we’ve explored each PDF editor app’s integrated tools and workflows, sized up the best cloud storage offerings, and compatibility - as well as ensuring that every option is a completely free PDF editor. So, you can get on with the job at hand, whether you're designing a document from scratch, you're swapping Adobe for the best Acrobat alternative, or you just the best free PDF eader to view your files. 

We’ve tested, reviewed, and rated the best PDF editors for Windows, Mac, mobile, and online. If it's in budget, we recommend these top three premium picks - bringing professional PDF editing tools into the home or office.

Best free PDF editor overall

Platform: PC

Plan: Free

Developer: Geek Software

Features include: PDF editor, PDF reader, conversion, merging, eSign, OCR

Completely free

Fast and light

Lots of features for every need

Occasionally a bit clunky

Windows-only

PDF24 Creator is our pick for best free PDF editor overall. You may find the website a tad dated, but the tool is surprisingly feature-rich.

The free PDF editor is a very small program that can easily run on older systems - ideal, then, for businesses with limited resources or a suite of low-spec computers.

When we tested the software, we rated it as one of the best free tools, going above and beyond what's expected. It’s full of features, and has everything needed to create and edit PDF documents. While we noted that it lacked more advanced features usually found in premium tools like Adobe Acrobat DC, we felt that most users will find more than enough utility within PDF24 Creator. 

The Windows-only tool serves up a PDF editor for free document creation, PDF merging, PDF compressing, and converting PDFs into other formats. You can even optimize a PDF for the web or apply OCR to a PDF, so that you can convert scanned images to text.

PDF24 Creator has a minimalistic user interface and it’s clear that the program is designed around speed first and foremost. The interface can feel a little clunky at times, but all of the important features are easy to find and when you first open the software, you’re presented with a grid of editing options. And yes, our top choice for best free PDF editor is genuinely free and unlimited, through and through.

Read our full PDF24 Creator review 

Best free PDF editor online

Platform: Web, PC

Plan: Free, Subscription, Perpetual license

Developer: PDF Candy

Features include: PDF editor, PDF reader, conversion, compression, merging, eSign

Free online editor

Loads of features and tools

OCR capabilities

Windows version available

No Mac or mobile apps

Free version only allows for one task each hour

PDF Candy is ideal if you want a free online PDF editor and a way to edit PDF files in your browser. You’ll also find a desktop version available for Windows if you upgrade to the lifetime license. 

Easily one of the best free PDF editors online, it's delightfully simple to use - everything is clean, clear, and easy to navigate. And it's absolutely packed with functionality, with an impressive 47 different tools for editing, altering, converting PDF files, and so much more. During our tests, we found PDF editing as effortless every other function in the software, delighted that "editing text in a PDF file isn’t a million miles away from editing a word processor document."

The free version places a one-task-per-hour limit - e.g., processing an edited PDF file or converting a document. This can be removed by setting up a monthly or annual subscription, or purchasing it outright for a one-off payment. The latter also grants access to the Windows-only desktop PDF editor app. If restriction is too much to bear, and you don't need everything the platform offers, try PDF24 Creator - it's fully free across the board. 

Elsewhere, PDF Candy has a good amount of useful tools and features. This includes the option to edit PDF files online, convert documents to a variety of formats, merge and compress PDFs. 

On top of that, PDF Candy lets you easily extract text and images, resize pages, and add watermarks.  In total, there are an impressive 47 different tools to help you manage and edit PDF files. All features are found in a handy list of buttons, so you won't spend ages looking for what you need. Overall, we found service delightfully simple, but as with even the best free PDF editors, an upgrade unlocks its full potential.   

Read our full PDF Candy review

Best free PDF editor for Android and iPhone

Platform: Web, Windows, Android, iOS

Plan: Free, Subscription

Developer: Smallpdf

Features include: PDF editor, PDF reader, scanner, conversion, compression

Cloud-based

Powerful range of tools

Allows you to convert PDFs to other formats

Cross-platform (for a price)

Can only process two documents per day

Extra cost for desktop app

Smallpdf was created with a single goal in mind: edit and compress PDFs. 

But what sets it apart from the competition is its extensive multi-lingual support, available in 24 different languages and used in 195 countries around the world.  

Long considered one of the best free PDF editors online - you can make all the changes you need from your browser - the user experience is excellent and incredibly easy to use. When we tested Smallpdf, we found the lightweight, cloud-based tool perfect for simple tasks, but not ideal for high-volume editing or advanced features. 

We found using the PDF editor very straightforward. Upload your PDF via the website, and begin making annotations and taking notes. We also liked the option to add pictures, text and shapes to a PDF. Once the necessary changes are made, Smallpdf gave us the option to compress a PDF or export it as a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file.

There are restrictions, as you'll find in many of the best free PDF editors. Chiefly, you're locked to two tasks per day - so a fully free tool like PDF24 Creator or Canva might be a better choice for more consistent use. 

If you want even more functionality, you can upgrade to Smallpdf’s premium edition. While the web version is slightly cheaper, you can pay a bit more to take advantage of the desktop version so you can work offline. Alongside a web PDF editor and Windows desktop app, users can also install the PDF editor on Android and iOS phones.

Read our full Smallpdf review 

Best free PDF editor for Mac

Platform: Mac

Plan: Free

Developer: Apple

Features include: PDF manipulator, reader, highlighter, annotations

Included with all Macs

Image-editing tools included

Can annotate and add signatures to PDFs

Only available for macOS

Lacks OCR

Apple’s Preview app is free, and as you’d imagine, only available on Apple devices like the MacBook. It’s designed to let you preview many different image formats, but its most interesting feature is its ability to view, interact with, and manipulate PDFs.

After testing our choice for best free PDF editor for Mac, we concluded that Apple’s product was a remarkably powerful editor, allowing you to perform what could be considered advanced content manipulation and note taking tools.

The basics are seamless: open a file, scroll through the pages, search for specific words, print the whole document, or just parts of it, fill in specific fields, add notes, it’s all there, and you can’t really ask for an easier-to-use PDF reader.

But Preview goes one better: you can manipulate PDFs files to a certain extent. There's no text editing, but you can reorder pages, rotate them, and even delete them. 

On the downside, despite being one of the best free PDF editors on the market, it lacks OCR tools. But most other functions should cater for most users. For custom PDF creation, you have the option of copying and pasting pages into new documents - as long as those original PDFs allow you to copy their pages.

Read our full Apple Preview review 

Best free PDF editor for designers

Platform: Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

Plan: Free, Subscription

Developer: Canva

Features include: PDF editor, reader, designer

Incredibly easy to use

Free with very few limits

Ideal for designing documents

Lacks advanced tools

Browser-based only

No OCR and eSign tools

Canva’s free PDF editor is a good choice if you’re looking to create documents from scratch or re-edit an existing file. 

Like the platform’s design app and logo maker, the browser-based editor is pure child’s play.  If you’re familiar with Canva’s other free tools, you won’t find any surprises here. And if you’ve never made or edited a PDF document before, it won’t take long to master the tools and build professional-looking assets. Select an element, drag it into position, and that’s that. It offers a decent amount of customization. You’ll also find it packed with stock images and vector graphics that can be added to your file. 

When we reviewed Canva - one of the best free PDF editors with design capabilities - we were especially impressed with its ability to turn existing PDFs into editable documents. Upload your file and the tool smartly identifies the different elements on the page - text boxes, images, background colors, that sort of thing. You’re then free to click and modify (or delete) any of these. 

There is also an app library for added utility. This is where you can connect your cloud storage services, add links, and even create QR codes. This is all free to use, but there is a monthly/annual subscription available, adding business-focused utilities such as brand kits, more cloud storage, premium graphics, and social media scheduling. Subscribers gain access to these across the Canva platform; it’s not limited to the PDF editing tool.

Effortless is, perhaps, the best way to describe this top free PDF editor. But while the tool excels on the design side, it lacks many of the advanced features you’ll find in full-fat software like Adobe Acrobat. There’s no OCR, for example, and no eSign integration. That makes it best for teams and marketing departments largely focused on designing their own PDF assets. 

Read our full Canva PDF Editor review 

Best free PDF editor for minor edits

Platform: Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone, Web

Plan: Free, Subscription

Developer: iLovePDF

Features include: PDF manipulator, scanner, compression, conversion, protection, merge, OCR

Very easy to use

Mostly free online service

Some clever tools

Good for minor document manipulation

Multi-platform

Certain features require subscription

Not a full PDF editor

I Love PDF is an online service that allows you to manipulate PDF files in a number of ways. You can merge files together, split a single one into multiples, and convert documents to and from the PDF format. The only thing you can't do is alter the original content of a PDF, although you can add additional text boxes, images and shapes.

So, it’s not a full PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat DC. In fact, we noted in our review of the PDF editing tool that while it lets you manipulate documents in many ways, the drawback is that you can’t actually change the existing content of these files. You can only add extra text boxes, shapes, images, and the like. 

Despite this, it does contain a number of interesting features that are cleverly implemented. This includes being able to use your phone’s camera to scan pages, and have them appear back on your page on your computer, once done. You can easily add page numbers to every page, or even a watermark, and of course add a digital electronic signature to a document.

The online PDF editor is free, as long as you access it from a web browser. A handful of tools have limited functionality in this way, but should be suitable for most people’s needs. 

If you require more advanced features like OCR and offline PDF editing , then you’ll need to consider subscribing.  

Read our full I Love PDF review 

Best free PDF editor for data security

Platform: Web, Windows, Mac, Linux

Plan: Free, Subscription

Developer: Sejda

Features inlcude: PDF editor, compression, conversion, protection, merge, eSign

No account required

Simple and easy to use interface

Uploaded files are deleted after 2 hours

File size limitations

Time restrictions on free tier

Sejda, like PDF Candy and Smallpdf, is one of the best free PDF editors available online in your browser. You can also grab a separate free downloadable, editable PDF app for desktops. 

What sets it apart from other similar offerings, however, are its security features. All files uploaded to the service are automatically wiped from its servers after two hours. This means you can use it to work on sensitive documents without having to be worried about your data being leaked or stolen.

Sejda as a convincingly power PDF editor - in our tests, we found that using it is incredibly self-explanatory, and it was frankly difficult to fault the tools on offer. On the other hand, we were disappointed by the lack of precision over layout and movement controls. In fact, during our time on the platform, we were noted a big flaw: "While you will find that it is possible to edit text, you're likely to find that fonts are changed, making it apparent precisely where edits have been made."

Sejda also offers a desktop version with the biggest difference being that all of the processing is handled locally as opposed to in the cloud. Regardless of which free version you choose, Sejda limits you to working on a maximum of three tasks per day, one file at a time and files can’t be larger than 50MB or 200 pages.

In addition to being able to edit PDF text, you can add new text as well as images including shapes and drawings. Sejda also lets you add annotations, create forms, whiteout sections of a document and more. However, it's worth noting that free users will get hit by the file size and time restrictions. For those that do decide to upgrade, Sejda is available as a weekly, monthly or annual subscription though there are discounts for larger teams with multiple users.

Read our full Sejda review 

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When deciding which free PDF editor is best for you, make a list of the must-have feature-set needed by you and your team. Not all free Adobe Acrobat alternatives are created equally. For example, if you’re bulk-editing, a tool like PDF24 Creator will serve you better than SmallPDF. 

Consider which bits of your PDF file you need to change. If you’re just trying to add information to a form digitally, you’ll just need a basic editor that supports text insertion.

However, if you need to change the content of a PDF substantially, you’ll require a more powerful PDF editor that can make modifications to text or images already stored in the file. In some cases, especially if you want to change almost all the content of your file, it may be better to use a dedicated PDF converter instead. 

Other advanced features to look out for, depending on your workflow, are built-in PDF conversion, OCR software, and eSign software. Cloud storage is another factor, so check the free PDF editor supports platforms like  Google Drive and Dropbox.

Most modern browsers have free PDF reader capabilities if that’s all you need

A PDF editor lets you assemble a Portable Document Format (PDF) file from scratch, as well as amend the content of existing PDF files. The format was released by Adobe in 1993 as a way to standardize documents viewed across different platforms, devices, and screens. Most PDF editors come with the ability to convert, or batch convert, common file types such as Microsoft Office’s Word, Powerpoint, and Excel to and from the PDF format. You’ll also find more advanced tools like optical character recognition (OCR) software. 

Whether or not a free PDF editor is best for you will largely depend on how you’ll use it, and where. While there are some free PDF desktop apps that work offline, they don’t always feature multi-platform and mobile support. Many others are only available online in your browser. You'll find some have extra features, like PDF merging tools and PDF compressors. But others are bereft of anything but the basics. So, it can be hit-and-miss. Free PDF editors can also impose usage limits, such as the amount of files you can import, or export, per day. As such, they’re often better for light users, or to get a taste for the tool.  

Free PDF editors are popular - but they're not always the best solution, particularly for data-conscious and data-compliant businesses. It's worth being aware of some of the reasons why organizations often tend to go premium in our guide 5 reasons why you should avoid free PDF editors

All PDF editors are designed differently - although tools and layouts follow a similar pattern. We’ve covered several ways to alter documents in the most popular paid-for and free PDF editors with our guide How to edit a PDF.

We've also highlighted the best method in Sedja PDF editor in our guide How to edit a PDF for free.

PDF24 Creator is a completely free PDF editor. It's free of charge, free of spyware, and it's our pick for best free PDF editor overall. But there are loads of amazing free PDF editing software depending on your needs and device/platform - many also include paid-for upgrades for premium features. 

To test for the best free PDF editors, we first set up an account with the relevant software platform, whether as a download or as an online service. 

We then tested the service using a handful of PDF files to see how the PDF editor could handle editing not just text, but also images, as well as tables imported from Microsoft Excel. 

The aim was to push each software platform to see whether it could simply and easily not just edit a range of content types but also do so faithfully and consistently without introducing formatting issues or similar problems.

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Plenty of free browser-based solutions exist, but these convenient tools don’t always live up to the industry’s best. Of course, we’re talking about Adobe Acrobat Pro, Photoshop and others that come at a steep premium.

Great PDF software doesn’t have to be super fancy. We love a job well done, with few errors and easy delivery, download, share or publish options. Tap or click here to see some of our other favorite PDF tools online.

ILovePDF is one do-it-all PDF tool that can take care of pretty much any PDF-related task on your plate. Read on, never to find yourself messing around with an expired Acrobat subscription again.

ILovePDF is much more than just a browser-based PDF editor. You can download the app for your desktop or phone.

To use ILovePDF, all you have to do is visit the site. On its homepage, you’ll see many options, which will likely be familiar to anybody who frequently works with PDF documents. This PDF web app enables you to do all of the following and more:

Privacy, security, the latest trends and the info you need to stay safe online.

If you’ve been stuck with these tasks without the right PDF software to carry them out, this website will almost certainly be a sight for sore eyes. Things like text replacement, annotations, highlighting and even adding new media to a PDF now take no time.

ILovePDF makes these simple tools easy to use and readily available from any device. Only one question remains: what happens to your document after you finish?

When finished editing a PDF, hit the big Export PDF button at the bottom. The site will generate your new document, and you can download it to your computer directly if desired.

After finalizing edits, you can compress the PDF, merge it with another, protect it, split it, convert it, or add your final watermark.

Other handy options include sharing a QR code or a Google Docs-style sharing link, saving it to your Dropbox account and adding it to your Google Drive. You may also share it with any social media network, including Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. 

These protected documents can often be a hiccup in one’s productivity pipeline. Thankfully, with tools like ILovePDF in your back pocket, you’ll never be locked out of something important again.

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Kim finds the best tech products, sites, apps, and privacy and security tools so you don’t have to.

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