Key takeaways
- Signing, filling form fields, adding text on top and rearranging pages can all be done free without Acrobat, using browser viewers and simple online tools.
- The Tools Kit has no PDF text editor; it signs PDFs and handles page edits such as reordering, deleting, rotating, cropping, watermarks and page numbers.
- LibreOffice Draw edits existing PDF text for free, but each line is a separate box, so it suits small fixes rather than rewriting whole paragraphs.
- Firefox and Preview can add new text over a flat form, and fillable forms work in any browser PDF viewer, so no paid editor is needed for forms.
You can edit and sign a PDF for free without Acrobat, but "edit" covers very different jobs. Signing, filling in form fields, adding a line of text and rearranging pages are all easy with free tools, including several on this site. Changing the words already printed in a PDF is the hard part. For that, the honest free options are LibreOffice Draw for small changes, or converting to Word and back. Our tools do not edit existing PDF text.
Match the edit to the right free tool
| What you need to do | Free way to do it | On The Tools Kit? |
|---|---|---|
| Add your signature | Sign PDF (drawn or typed) | Yes |
| Fill in a fillable form | Your browser's PDF viewer, or Preview on a Mac | No |
| Add a date or name on a form with no fields | Firefox's PDF viewer text tool, or Preview's text box | No |
| Reorder, remove or rotate pages | Organize PDF, Delete PDF Pages, Rotate PDF | Yes |
| Add a watermark or page numbers | Add Watermark to PDF, Add Page Numbers to PDF | Yes |
| Trim margins | Crop PDF | Yes |
| Change the title or author details | PDF Metadata Editor | Yes |
| Change words already on the page | LibreOffice Draw, or PDF to Word then back to PDF | No text editor |
Most "edit my PDF" jobs sit in the top rows, and none of them need a paid editor.
Signing for free
Sign PDF adds a signature in your browser without uploading the file.
- Drop in the PDF. The tool reads its page count so you can choose any page, and flags the file straight away if it is password-protected.
- Draw your signature with a mouse or finger, or type your name and pick one of three cursive-style fonts.
- Choose the page (the last page is the default), one of six positions such as bottom right, and a width in points.
- Download the signed copy.
The signature is placed on the page as an image. That is accepted for most everyday paperwork, such as leases, consent forms and HR documents. It is not a certificate-based digital signature, so if the other side asks for one, use the platform they specify. Our guide on signing a PDF without printing it explains where that line falls.
Firefox's built-in PDF viewer also has a signature tool, with typed, drawn or image signatures. Mozilla describes these as simple annotations rather than verified e-signatures.
Filling in forms and adding text
If the form has fillable fields, you need nothing extra. Open it in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Preview, click into each field, type, then download or save the filled copy.
If the form is a flat page with blank lines and no fields, you need a tool that places new text on top:
- Firefox. Its PDF viewer has Text, Draw, Image and Highlight tools in the toolbar. Choose Text, set the size and colour, click where the words should go, then download to keep your changes.
- Preview on a Mac. Show the Markup toolbar and use the text box tool to type onto the page.
Both add text over the page. Neither changes the words that were already printed there.
A sensible order is to fill in the text first, save, then sign. Open the signed copy once to check your typed entries are all still there before you send it.
Changing the words already in the PDF
This is the job people usually mean by "edit PDF free", and it is where free tools are weakest. A PDF stores each line of text at a fixed position, so there is no paragraph to reflow when a word changes.
LibreOffice Draw is the best free route for small changes. LibreOffice is a free office suite for Windows, Mac and Linux, and its Draw app opens PDFs for editing.
- Open the PDF in LibreOffice. It opens in Draw.
- Click a line of text and edit it. Each line or block is a separate text box.
- Choose File > Export as PDF to save a new PDF. Plain Save writes a Draw file instead.
It works well for fixing a typo, a date or an address in a simple layout. Expect trouble with long paragraphs, because the lines do not reflow. If a font in the PDF is not installed on your computer, a similar one is used and spacing can shift.
The Word round trip suits documents where you need to rewrite whole sections. Convert with PDF to Word, edit freely, then turn the result back into a PDF with Word to PDF. You get your words back, but not the design: fonts, colours, columns and images are not carried over, so this suits text-heavy documents more than brochures. Microsoft Word can also open a PDF directly and convert it into an editable document, with similar layout changes.
If you have the original Word or Google Docs file, edit that instead. It is always cleaner than editing the PDF.
Page-level edits in your browser
These tools change pages, not words, and all run in your browser without uploading the file:
- Organize PDF moves pages with up and down arrows on each row, and drops a page with ×.
- Delete PDF Pages removes the page numbers you type, with even and odd shortcuts.
- Rotate PDF turns every page by 90, 180 or 270 degrees. It rotates the whole document, not single pages.
- Crop PDF trims margins, either by typing values or by drawing a box on a preview of page 1, on every page or on page 1 only.
- Add Watermark to PDF stamps grey diagonal text, such as CONFIDENTIAL, on every page.
- Add Page Numbers to PDF adds plain numbers in one of five positions, starting from any number you choose.
- PDF Metadata Editor changes the title, author, subject and keywords.
Put the steps in the right order
When a document needs several edits, this order avoids redoing work:
- Change the wording, if you need to, in LibreOffice Draw or Word.
- Arrange the pages: reorder, remove, rotate, crop.
- Add page numbers or a watermark.
- Fill in form fields and add typed text.
- Sign.
- Compress last, if the file is too big to send. Compression turns pages into images, so anything added after it would sit on top of a flattened page.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, for most jobs. Signing, filling forms, adding text on top and rearranging pages are all free in browser tools and built-in viewers. Changing existing words is harder: LibreOffice Draw handles small fixes for free, and converting to Word and back works for bigger rewrites, though the original layout is not kept.
Open the PDF in LibreOffice, which loads it in Draw, click the line you want and edit it, then choose File > Export as PDF. It suits typos, dates and addresses. For rewriting whole sections, convert the PDF to Word, edit it, and save it back as a PDF, accepting a plainer layout.
If the form has fillable fields, open it in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Preview on a Mac, type into each field and save or download the copy. If it is a flat page with no fields, use the text tool in Firefox's PDF viewer or the text box in Preview's Markup toolbar to type on top.
For most everyday documents, an electronic signature placed with intent to sign is accepted, including drawn or typed ones. Sign PDF places the signature as an image, which is not a certificate-based digital signature. If the other party asks for a verified or qualified signature, use the signing platform they specify instead.
It has no tool for changing the words in a PDF. It does sign PDFs, reorder and delete pages, rotate, crop, add watermarks and page numbers, and edit the title and author details, all in your browser. For text changes, use LibreOffice Draw, or PDF to Word followed by Word to PDF.