How to Merge PDF Files
Combine several PDFs into one file with Preview on Mac, the Files app on iPhone, or Adobe Acrobat's free online tool on Windows, then check the page order.
You have two or more PDFs and need a single file. On a Mac, Preview does it with nothing extra installed. Windows 11 has no built-in merge tool, so a free web tool is the fastest route there.
Open the first PDF in Preview on Mac
Double-click the PDF to open it in Preview. Choose View, Thumbnails so the page sidebar appears on the left.
Drag the other PDFs into the sidebar
Drag each additional PDF from Finder into the thumbnail sidebar and drop it below the page it should follow. A blue line shows where the pages will land. If dragging is awkward, click a page in the sidebar and choose Edit, Insert, Page from File, then pick the PDF to add.
Reorder and export
Drag thumbnails up or down in the sidebar to set the final order. Choose File, Export as PDF, name the file, and click Save. Pressing Cmd + S also saves the merged pages into the file that is open.
Use Adobe Acrobat online on Windows
Windows 11 cannot merge PDFs on its own. Microsoft Print to PDF handles one document at a time. Go to adobe.com, open the free Merge PDFs tool, upload the files, drag them into order, click Merge, and download the result. Sign in with a free Adobe account if prompted.
Combine PDFs on iPhone
Open the Files app and go to the folder that holds the PDFs. Tap the three-dot button in the top right, tap Select, tap each PDF in the order you want, then tap the three-dot button in the bottom right and tap Create PDF. The combined file appears in the same folder.
Check the order before exporting. Scroll the thumbnail sidebar from top to bottom once. Dropped pages sometimes land one position off, and it is faster to fix that now than to re-merge later.
Word on Windows. Open a blank document, choose Insert, Object, Text from File, and select a PDF. Word converts the PDF to editable text, so layouts can shift. It works for simple text documents but not for forms or scans. Web tools like Acrobat online, Smallpdf, and iLovePDF upload your files to their servers, so avoid them for contracts, medical records, or anything sensitive.