How Do You Edit a PDF on a Mac for Free?

Can you edit a PDF on a Mac without paying?

You can edit a PDF on a Mac without paying, but the free tool you need depends on the kind of edit. Every Mac includes Preview, and Apple’s Preview user guide on annotating PDFs is explicit about its main limit: you can’t edit the text of a PDF in Preview, but you can use the Markup tools to add feedback and notes.

There are 2 kinds of PDF edits. They are markup edits, which add new content on top of the page (text boxes, highlights, signatures, shapes and page changes), and content edits, which change the text or images that are already in the file. Preview handles markup edits well. Content edits require a separate free app.

For a wider comparison that includes browser-based and Windows tools, see the TechJournal roundup of the best free PDF editors.

What can Preview do with a PDF, and what can’t it do?

Preview can annotate, sign, fill forms, manage pages, redact, password-protect and compress a PDF, but it cannot rewrite existing text. The table below summarizes the most common tasks, based on Apple’s Preview documentation and on each free app’s published feature list. The comparison uses vendor documentation only; TechJournal did not run its own tests of these apps.

How do you add text, highlights and notes to a PDF in Preview?

To add text, highlights and notes to a PDF in Preview, open the Markup toolbar and choose the matching tool. Apple lists Text, Note, Highlight Selection, Shapes, Sketch and Sign among the tools, plus Draw on Macs with a Force Touch trackpad.

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. Click the Show Markup Toolbar button if the toolbar is not visible.
3. Select Text to place a text box, Note to add a comment, or Highlight Selection to mark existing words.
4. Use Text Style, Border Color and Fill Color to change the font and appearance of what you added.
5. Save with File > Save or File > Export to keep the annotations editable later.

The save method decides whether others can change your annotations. Apple explains that File > Save, File > Export and File > Export to PDF keep annotations editable, while choosing File > Print and then Save as PDF flattens them into the page so they can no longer be adjusted.

How do you sign and fill out a PDF form on a Mac?

To sign and fill out a PDF form on a Mac, click into each form field in Preview and type, then add a saved signature from the Sign button. Apple’s guide to filling out and signing PDF forms describes 3 ways to create a signature. They are signing on the trackpad with a finger, holding a signature written on white paper up to the built-in camera, and signing on a nearby iPhone or iPad that meets Continuity requirements.

1. Open the form in Preview and click a field to type in it.
2. Click the Show Form Filling Toolbar button and then the Text Box Tool if the fields do not accept typing.
3. Show the Markup toolbar and click Sign, then Create Signature if you have not made one.
4. Choose the signature, drag it into position and resize it with the handles.
5. Choose File > Export to save a copy you can reopen and continue filling later.

Apple states that signatures sync to other Macs when iCloud Drive is turned on, which is convenient but means a deleted signature disappears from those Macs too.

How do you merge, reorder and delete PDF pages in Preview?

To merge, reorder and delete PDF pages in Preview, switch to the thumbnail sidebar and drag or delete pages there. Apple’s instructions to combine PDFs in Preview carry an important caution: changes to a Preview document are saved automatically. Choose File > Duplicate for each PDF before you start if you want to keep the original files unchanged.

1. Open the PDFs and choose View > Thumbnails in each window.
2. Drag thumbnails from one PDF’s sidebar into the other to merge them, or drag a PDF icon from Finder into the sidebar to add a whole file.
3. Drag thumbnails up or down to reorder pages.
4. Select unwanted pages and press Delete, or choose Edit > Delete.
5. Choose Edit > Insert > Blank Page or Page from File to add pages after the selected one.

Apple’s page on how to add, delete or move PDF pages adds 2 details worth knowing. Deleting a page also removes every annotation on it, and dragging thumbnails to the desktop creates a new PDF from just those pages, which is a quick way to split a long document. Preview can also crop and rotate pages from the Markup toolbar, and File > Revert To > Browse All Versions restores an earlier copy if a crop goes wrong.

How do you redact, protect and shrink a PDF on a Mac?

To redact, protect and shrink a PDF on a Mac, use Preview’s Redaction Selection tool, its export Permissions and its Quartz Filter.

• Redact: Select text with the Redaction Selection tool in the Markup toolbar. Apple states that the redaction becomes permanent once you close the document, and that table-of-contents entries linking to redacted text are not removed. A shape or text box drawn over sensitive text is an annotation, not a redaction, so use the dedicated tool for anything private.
• Password-protect: Choose File > Export, give the copy a new name, click Permissions, select “Require Password To Open Document” and set an owner password. Apple’s password protection guide also explains File > Edit Permissions for controlling printing and editing.
• Shrink: Choose File > Export and pick Reduce File Size from the Quartz Filter menu. Apple’s guide to reducing PDF size warns that the compressed PDF may be of lower quality than the original.

Export each of these as a new copy, because a permanent redaction or a heavily compressed scan cannot be reversed.

How do you change existing text in a PDF on a Mac for free?

To change existing text in a PDF on a Mac for free, open the file in a dedicated editor such as PDFgear or LibreOffice Draw, because Preview does not support text editing.

PDFgear

PDFgear is a free PDF editor listed on the Mac App Store with no in-app purchases shown and a requirement of macOS 12 or later. The developer’s PDFgear for Mac page says the app edits existing text without converting the file to Word, adds no watermarks, needs no account, runs OCR on scanned pages and supports electronic and certificate-based signatures. These are the developer’s own claims. The same page states that AI features and online services require an internet connection, while most editing tools run locally, so avoid sending confidential documents to the AI chat feature.

1. Install PDFgear from the Mac App Store.
2. Open the PDF in PDFgear and choose the edit mode for text.
3. Click the text block you want to change and type the correction.
4. Save the result as a new file so the original stays unchanged.

LibreOffice Draw

LibreOffice Draw is part of the free, open-source LibreOffice suite, and the official LibreOffice Getting Started Guide confirms that Draw can open PDF files and that PDF contents can be edited in Draw. Draw turns each page into separate objects, such as text boxes, lines and images. The trade-off is fidelity: tables, columns and uncommon fonts can shift or be substituted when the PDF is imported, so check every page before you share the result.

1. Download LibreOffice from the official LibreOffice download page, choosing the Apple Silicon or Intel build to match your Mac.
2. Choose File > Open and select the PDF; it opens in Draw.
3. Double-click a text block and edit the wording.
4. Choose File > Export As > Export as PDF to save a new PDF with full options.

The guide also describes a “Hybrid PDF (embed ODF file)” export option, which behaves like a normal PDF in viewers but remains fully editable in LibreOffice.

Which free option should you use?

The right free option for editing a PDF on a Mac depends on whether the original wording must change. For most users, Preview is the sensible first choice because it is already installed, keeps the work on the Mac and covers signing, forms, page changes, redaction and compression.

• Use Preview for signatures, form filling, comments, merging, page cleanup, redaction and password protection.
• Use PDFgear when you need to correct existing text in a fairly standard document and prefer an app that keeps the original layout in place.
• Use LibreOffice Draw for small text or image corrections when you prefer open-source software, and accept that complex layouts may need manual cleanup.

Stop and request an editable original when the document is a legal contract, a tax form or any file someone else will rely on. Changing the text of a signed or official PDF can create a document the other party never agreed to. If your Mac struggles with large scanned PDFs, the guide to fixing a slow MacBook covers memory and storage causes, and the guide on taking a screenshot on a laptop helps when you only need an image of one page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Preview edit text in a PDF?

Preview cannot edit the existing text of a PDF, according to Apple’s Preview user guide. Preview can add new text boxes, notes, highlights and signatures on top of the page, but changing the original wording requires a separate editor.

Is there a completely free PDF editor for Mac?

Yes, Preview is included free with every Mac, and LibreOffice Draw is free open-source software that can edit PDF text. PDFgear is also listed as free on the Mac App Store, and its developer states that it adds no watermarks and requires no account.

How do I combine two PDFs on a Mac?

Combining two PDFs on a Mac works by opening both files in Preview, choosing View > Thumbnails and dragging pages from one sidebar into the other. Apple notes that Preview saves changes automatically, so choose File > Duplicate first if you want to keep the original files.

How do I sign a PDF on a Mac for free?

Signing a PDF on a Mac for free is done in Preview by clicking the Sign button in the Markup toolbar and creating a signature with the trackpad, the built-in camera or a nearby iPhone or iPad. After the signature is created, drag it onto the document and resize it with the handles.

Are Preview redactions permanent?

Preview redactions become permanent once you close the document, according to Apple. Use the Redaction Selection tool rather than a drawn shape, and keep an unredacted original stored separately in case you need it later.