Merge PDF

Merging is the simplest PDF operation there is, and it is also the one most likely to be done on a website that wants your email address first. It does not need a server. A browser can open a PDF, copy its pages into a new document and hand the result back, and that is exactly what this page does.

The order of the list is the order of the pages. Drag a row with the mouse, or use the up and down buttons, which work with the keyboard and on a phone. Add more files at any point; new ones join the bottom of the list.

Pages are copied whole. Text stays selectable, images keep their resolution and page sizes are preserved, so a landscape scan sitting in the middle of a portrait report comes out landscape. Nothing is re-encoded, which is why the merged file is roughly the sum of the originals rather than smaller.

A PDF holds two kinds of thing: content that belongs to a page, and settings that belong to the document. Page content survives the merge intact. Document level settings do not, because there is no sensible way to combine several documents' worth of them into one.

In practice that means the bookmark outline, filled in form field data and the document's own table of contents are not carried over. Links that point to a web address still work. Links that jump to a page inside the original document may point nowhere, since that page now sits at a different number.

If your files run into hundreds of megabytes, merge them in groups of two or three and then merge the results. Everything is held in your tab's memory at once, so a browser tab is the constraint, not the tool.

How do I combine several PDFs into one?

Add the files, drag them into the order you want, then press merge. The pages come out in the order the list shows, top file first, and every page of every file is kept.

Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. The page opens your file with JavaScript running in your own browser, does the work there, and hands you the result as a download. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no server copy to delete and no queue to wait in. You can check this yourself: open your browser's network tab, run the tool, and you will see no request carrying your file.

How many PDFs can I merge at once?

There is no fixed limit in the tool. The practical limit is your browser's memory, because every file has to be held in the tab at the same time. A few hundred megabytes in total is comfortable on a laptop; a phone will struggle sooner. The page warns you when a file is unusually large.

Does merging change the quality of my pages?

No. Pages are copied across whole, so text stays selectable, images keep their original resolution and nothing is re-encoded. The merged file is roughly the size of the originals added together.

What happens to bookmarks, forms and links?

Page content, page size and page rotation are preserved. Document level extras such as the bookmark outline, form field data and the table of contents are not carried across, because they belong to the original document rather than to any one page. Links that point outside the document still work; links that point to a page inside it may not.

Can I merge a password protected PDF?

Not directly. An encrypted PDF cannot be read without its password, so the tool will tell you the file is locked. Open it in a PDF reader, enter the password, save an unlocked copy, then merge that.

Is this PDF merger free?

Yes, and there is no account, no email box and no watermark on the output. The tool is here because FORKSAI makes study software and this is a useful thing to give away.