A free PDF editor that changes the text you already have
Most free online PDF editors let you paste new text over a page. This one lets you click the existing words, change them, drag them somewhere else, and download a PDF with the old text gone. It also fills forms, signs, redacts, annotates and rearranges pages, in your browser, with no account and no watermark.
If you came here to edit a PDF online for free, the editor is above. The rest of this page explains what this PDF editor can and cannot do, so you know before you start. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS and Android, because it needs nothing but a browser.
Start with what you want to do
How to edit a PDF online in four steps
The same four steps cover every job, whether you edit PDF text, fill a PDF form, sign a PDF or redact a PDF.
- Open the file. Click Open PDF or drop the file on the page. The editor reads every text run, the font each one uses, and any form fields.
- Edit the text. Click a word to see its font. Double-click to change it, drag it to move it, or pick Add text and click where new text should go. Font, size, bold, italic and colour sit in the bar under the toolbar.
- Add what the document needs. Fill form fields directly, add links, images, shapes or a signature, highlight or strike out, and use the page sidebar to reorder, rotate, insert or delete pages.
- Download. Click Download PDF. The edited copy saves to your device. Your original file is never changed.
What this PDF editor can do
Edit PDF text in place
Every text run in the file becomes clickable. The property bar shows the font named inside the PDF, whether it's embedded, and which library family will be used for the replacement. Change the words, the size, the colour, or switch to bold or italic. Broken lines are merged, so a sentence edits as one piece rather than word by word.
Add text
Click anywhere and type. New text uses any of 19 font families, from Roboto and Open Sans to Tinos, Caladea and three script faces for signatures.
Find and replace
Search the whole document, step through matches, replace one or replace all, with or without case matching.
PDF form filler
You can fill a PDF form without printing it. Existing text fields, checkboxes, dropdowns and radio buttons are detected and shown as inputs on the page. Type into them and the values are saved into the form, so the file still works as a form afterwards.
Build a form
Add text fields, multiline fields, checkboxes, dropdowns and radio groups to any PDF, name them, and set default values.
Sign a PDF
Draw a signature with your mouse or finger, type your name in a script font, or upload an image of your signature. Place it, resize it, done.
Annotate
Highlight, underline and strike out by dragging over text. Draw freehand, or use the freehand highlighter. Annotations can be hidden while you work.
Shapes, images and links
Rectangles, ellipses, lines and arrows with border, fill and width. Images in PNG, JPG or any browser format, resized by their corners. Clickable links to a web address, email or phone number.
Whiteout
Cover anything with a block of any colour. Useful for quick fixes, but note it only covers; for removal use redaction.
Organise pages
The page sidebar shows every page. Rotate, move up or down, insert a blank page after any page, or delete. Add a blank page at the end for notes or a signature page. Zoom from 33% to 266%.
Undo everything
Edits and page operations share one undo history. Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y work as you'd expect; arrow keys nudge the selected item by a point, ten with Shift.
Redact PDF content, not just cover it
Draw a box over anything and the text, image pixels and drawings under it are removed from the file when you download. Type a name or number and every occurrence on every page is boxed automatically. Presets catch email addresses, phone numbers, card numbers, ID numbers, IBANs, web addresses and dates.
Strip metadata
One checkbox removes the title, author, keywords, producer, dates and XMP data that travel with a PDF.
Nothing leaves your device
The editor runs in the browser. The file you open is processed on your computer, and the download comes straight from the page.
How this free PDF editor compares
| Feature | PDFVerge editor | Typical free online editors | Desktop suites (Adobe Acrobat Pro, Foxit) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no signup | Free with limits (files per hour, watermarks, page caps) | Subscription or licence |
| Edit existing text | Yes, original removed from file | Yes, usually covered rather than removed | Yes, with the original font |
| Redaction | Removes text, images and drawings | Whiteout only (content stays in file) | Yes (paid tier) |
| Fill and build forms | Yes | Fill usually; build on paid tiers | Yes |
| Where files are processed | Your browser | Their servers | Your computer |
| Install | None | None | Required |
What this online PDF editor doesn't do yet
Every PDF editor has limits. These are the ones you'll notice.
- Exact font match. Fonts inside PDFs are subsets missing the letters you type, so the editor substitutes the nearest library family. Arial becomes Roboto, Calibri becomes Lato, Times becomes Tinos. A changed line can be slightly wider or narrower than before.
- Scanned PDFs. No text layer means nothing to click. Add text, images and signatures on top instead.
- Complex scripts. Arabic, Urdu, Devanagari and similar can't be typed or exported.
- Rotated pages. Rotate a page back to 0° to edit it, then rotate it again.
- Existing images and links can be covered or redacted, but not moved or deleted as objects.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y | Undo / redo | Ctrl+F | Find and replace |
| Delete | Remove the selected item or revert an edited run | Esc | Back to the select tool, or clear selection |
| Arrow keys | Nudge 1 pt (Shift for 10 pt) | Enter / Ctrl+Enter | Save an edited run / save added text |
Questions people ask about editing PDFs online
Can I edit the existing text in a PDF, not just add text over it?
Yes. Click any text run to see the font named in the file, double-click to change the words, and drag to move it. The editor draws the new text in the closest matching font from its library and removes the original from the file.
Is this PDF editor really free?
Yes. There is no signup, no watermark and no page limit in the editor. Everything on this page works without an account.
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. The editor runs in your browser. Your PDF is processed on your device and the edited copy downloads directly from the page.
Does redaction remove the text or only hide it?
It removes it. Text, image pixels and drawings under a redaction box are deleted from the file on download, and you can strip the document metadata too. Whiteout, by contrast, only covers.
Can I fill a PDF form here?
Yes. Existing form fields are detected and shown as inputs you type into directly. You can also add text fields, checkboxes, dropdowns and radio groups to any PDF.
Will the edited text match the original font exactly?
Usually closely, not exactly. Fonts embedded in PDFs are subsets missing the letters you type, so the editor substitutes the nearest of 19 library families, for example Arial to Roboto and Times to Tinos. Line width can change slightly.
Can I edit a scanned PDF?
Not yet. A scanned PDF is an image with no text layer, so there is nothing to click. You can still add text, images, shapes and signatures on top of it.
Which languages are supported?
Languages written in Latin script. Arabic, Urdu, Devanagari and other complex scripts cannot be typed or exported yet.
More PDF tools
The PDF editor covers the page itself. For file-level jobs, the rest of PDFVerge is one click away:
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