Which text can I edit?

Lines whose font is embedded in the file as TrueType or OpenType, the usual case for PDFs made with Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs: you edit with the original font, and the alignment and the rest of the page stay as they were. Many files carry only the letters they use; if you type a letter that is not among them, we show you the line with a substitute font next to the original before you save, and you keep it or discard it. Text in pictures (use Text recognition instead), text drawn as shapes and text used as a mask for other content cannot be edited; you can cover it and write new text. A whole paragraph can be re-laid in its own space when you add or remove words; if it gets longer, it can push the paragraphs of the same column down — never onto the next page — or the editor shows you where it stops. Text set in an older font type (Type 1), common in files made with LaTeX, is edited with its original letters when the editor can convert the font; when it cannot, that line is written with a substitute font, shown before you save.

Can I edit the drawings in a PDF?

Lines, shapes and diagram parts drawn as vector graphics can be selected on their outline, then moved, resized, recoloured or deleted, with their line width and style changed; a group of drawings moves together. Some drawings can only be moved or deleted as a whole, not recoloured: those filled with a repeating pattern or a colour gradient, and those blended with what is under them; when the file does not allow the move, such a drawing can only be deleted, and the editor says so. Two kinds accept no change at all, and the editor says so: a drawing that also marks where other content is visible, and a drawing inside a reusable block shared with other pages; you can cover them. Text drawn as shapes is a drawing, not text.

Are the header, footer and watermark editable afterwards?

The header and footer are written as ordinary text on each chosen page, with the page number, number of pages, date, title or file name filled in, so afterwards you edit, move or delete each line like any text you add. A single text watermark is also text. A tiled or picture watermark is one block per page that you can move or delete, not change inside; to change it, delete it and add it again. All of these are new content on top of the page; the existing content is not touched.

Can I add or change form fields?

Yes. Choose Add field, pick a type — text, checkbox, radio button, list or drop-down, signature — and drag a box where it should go; a form that has no fields gets them the same way. Select a field to move or resize it, rename it, make it required or read-only, give it several lines or one character per box, edit the options of a list, choose the mark of a checkbox, change its colours and font size, or move it in the tab order; each change is a step you can undo. A digitally certified document refuses new fields and field changes — the editor says so, and the way around it is a copy without signatures; a form in an older form format (XFA) can still be filled but not changed. Fields locked by a signature stay as they are.

Tables in a PDF come in two kinds, and the editor tells you which it found. A table with a structure in the file — the usual case for files made with Word or LibreOffice with accessibility tagging on — lets you edit any cell, insert a row below or delete a row; when a cell needs more lines, its row grows and the rows below, the table's lines and the paragraphs under the table move down. A table drawn only with lines, without a structure, is detected from those lines and from the text aligned in them: you can edit its cells, but rows cannot be added or deleted yet. A table in a scan stays a picture until you run Text recognition, and then becomes lines of text, not a table.

Does the editor work on a phone?

Yes, in a recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. Very large files may exceed a phone's memory; the editor says so and suggests a computer.

Can the editor check a digital signature?

Yes, on your device. For each signature the editor hashes the signed part of the file and checks the signature with the certificate inside the file, then compares what came after it: it tells you who signed and when, and whether the document has not been modified since signing, was modified only by filling and annotating, or was modified in content. Two honest limits: the signer's identity is not verified against an authority, because the browser has no store of trusted certificates — so the editor never says a signature is legally valid — and time stamps are shown, not verified. Older or unusual algorithms are reported as not checked, with the reason.

Can I sign with my own certificate?

Yes, with a .p12 or .pfx file and its password. The file is read in your browser: the private key goes into the browser's memory until you close the document, the password is used once and not kept, and nothing is sent anywhere. The signature is written when you save, as the last thing added to the file, in the PAdES format other PDF programs read, visible in a box or invisible; the editor then checks it with the same check it applies to any signature. A time stamp from an authority is not added, so the signing time is your device's clock. Saving the file again by rewriting it removes the signature; changes added to the file as a revision keep it.

You can save as PDF/A-2b, the archival form of PDF: fonts embedded, colours defined, file information in a standard form, nothing that depends on an outside program. The whole file is rewritten, so existing signatures are removed, and the result is checked before it is offered; when the check fails, you get the file with the list of what it still violates, most often a font the original does not embed — the editor does not re-embed the original's fonts or convert its colours. Text you add is written with embedded fonts, so it never breaks conformance by itself. Tagging for accessibility is a separate option: it marks the text and pictures you added, with the document language and alternative texts, and is not a full accessibility certification.

Edit a PDF in your browser, without uploading it

Updated November 2, 2026

Most online PDF editors upload your document to a server, edit it there and send back a copy. The editor on this site does it the other way round: the PDF is opened, changed and saved by your own browser, on your own device, and what gets downloaded, once, is the editor's code. This guide says plainly what that editor can do today, what it cannot do yet, and how you can check for yourself that nothing leaves your device.

You can change existing text — a line, or a whole paragraph re-laid in its own space — where its font allows it; otherwise the substitute is shown before saving. You can also add text, pictures, notes, links and a signature, fill forms, reorder pages, find and replace words, redact permanently, make a scanned page searchable or turn it into editable text, move and recolour the drawings, crop and rotate pictures, add a header, footer or watermark to every page, check the file's digital signatures or sign with your own certificate, and save as PDF/A-2b.

What you can do today

Open a PDF and the editor first says how editable it is: fully, partly, or not safely at all (damaged files, unknown encryption), with the reason in plain words. Then you can change existing text where its font allows it: a line, or a whole paragraph, which is re-laid in its own space when you add or remove words (otherwise the substitute is shown before saving); add new text anywhere, in a font that carries accents and in the size, colour and alignment you choose; place a picture from a file, the clipboard or a drag, and move or resize it; highlight, underline or strike through a passage, draw freehand, add rectangles, ellipses and text notes; draw, type or import your signature and place it on a page; fill form fields of every usual kind; rotate, reorder, duplicate, delete and insert pages; search the text and replace words, seeing the before and after of each match first; add links to a web address or to another page, or let the editor find the addresses already written in the text; redact permanently by selecting text or drawing a box, so that the text, picture pixels and notes under it are removed from the file, which is read back after saving to confirm that nothing remains there; on a scanned page, run Text recognition to make it searchable or to turn it into editable paragraphs written with a substitute font, with the original shown next to the result before you keep it; set the visible area of a page and change the file information (title, author, subject, keywords); select a drawing — a line, a shape, a part of a diagram — and move, resize, recolour or delete it, or change its line width and style, with the drawings of one group moving together; rotate a picture, crop it, set its opacity, save it to your device or replace it keeping its size; add a header and footer with the page number, the number of pages, the date, the document title or the file name, written as text you can edit afterwards; stamp a watermark, as text or as a picture, on the pages you choose; when a paragraph you edit gets longer, push the paragraphs below it in the same column down; add form fields of every usual kind to any PDF, including one that has none, and change a field's name, requirement, options, colours, place or tab order; edit the cells of a table and, in a table with a structure in the file, insert and delete rows, with the rows below moving down when a cell grows; edit text set in an older font type (Type 1), common in files made with LaTeX, with its original letters where the editor can convert the font; check each digital signature of the file on your device and read who signed, when, and whether the document was modified since; sign with your own certificate (.p12 or .pfx), visibly or invisibly, as the last thing added to the file; save as PDF/A-2b with the result checked; tag the text and pictures you added for accessibility, with the document language and alternative texts; and, where your browser offers a file picker, save the checked copy under the original's name (the browser asks where to put it; choosing the original replaces it), otherwise it is downloaded.

Every change is a step in a history you can undo one by one or jump back through, and the steps are kept as a draft in this browser, so a closed tab loses nothing. Saving writes a new file, reads it back and compares each edited page with what you asked for and each untouched page with the original; if something differs outside the edited areas, the file is not offered and you undo the last change or keep the original. You can compare before and after on screen.

What you cannot do yet (as of 2 November 2026)

A paragraph that gets longer can push the paragraphs below it in the same column down, but never onto the next page and never past a picture, a table or a line; when it does not fit, it is shrunk a little or the editor shows you where it stops, and words are not hyphenated. Links already in the file cannot be changed yet. Pictures the file draws in an unusual way can be covered or replaced, but not moved; cropping a picture hides the part outside the crop, it does not remove it from the file. Drawings filled with a pattern or a gradient, or blended with what is under them, can usually be moved or deleted as a whole but not recoloured; when the file does not allow the move, such a drawing can only be deleted; drawings that mark where other content is visible cannot be moved, deleted or recoloured, and drawings inside a reusable block cannot be changed at all. A tiled or picture watermark is one block per page: it can be moved or deleted, not changed inside. Notes made by other programs can be deleted but not changed. Redaction removes what is under the boxes but does not rebuild the layout around them, and the font left in the file can still show which letters existed in the document. A scanned page turned into editable text does not keep its original typeface, and handwriting, stamps and tables without lines stay pictures; recognition is never perfect, so check the comparison. A table drawn only with lines, without a structure in the file, lets you edit its cells but not add or delete rows; columns cannot be added or deleted in any table, a table never flows onto the next page, and a table in a scan becomes lines of text after Text recognition, not a table. Text in an older font type that the editor cannot convert is still written with a substitute font, said for that line before you save. A certified document refuses new fields and field changes until you save a copy without signatures, and a form in an older form format (XFA) can be filled but not changed. A signature check says whether the file still matches what was signed, not who the signer is: identities are not verified against an authority, and time stamps are shown, not verified; signing with your certificate adds no time stamp from an authority. Saving as PDF/A-2b does not embed fonts the original left out or convert its colours, so such a file is reported as not conforming, with the reason. Accessibility tagging covers what you added, not the content the file already had, and is not a full accessibility certification. Each of these is on the way; the tool page says what changed when it does.

How to check that nothing leaves your device

You do not have to take our word for it. Open the editor, then your browser's developer tools (F12 or Ctrl+Shift+I on Windows and Linux, Option+Command+I on a Mac), and choose the Network tab. Drop a PDF, make a few edits and save. The requests you see fetch the editor's code, fonts and engine files from this site; none carries your file, and the list stays still while you edit and save. One small anonymous report is sent per document — how editable it was, whether saving succeeded, and the name of the program that produced the file — never any content; the privacy policy describes it.

A second check needs no tools: open the editor once, switch the device to airplane mode and use it again. It opens, edits and saves without a connection, because everything it needs is already on your device.

Signed documents and forms

A digitally signed PDF opens with a note on what the signature allows. Where the document permits it, filling fields, adding notes and placing a signature are added to the file without touching what was signed; text and page changes need a copy without signatures, which you choose explicitly, and whether another program still shows the signature as valid is for that program to decide. Form values are written into the file with their appearance, so other PDF programs show them as you typed them. Scripts attached to fields, for totals or formatting, never run here: the value is saved exactly as typed, and the editor says so before saving. New fields and changes to a field's properties count as changes to the document: a certified document refuses them until you save a copy without signatures, and fields locked by a signature keep their properties. The Signatures panel checks each signature on your device — the signed part of the file is hashed and the signature verified with the certificate in the file — and says whether the document has not been modified since signing, was modified only by filling and annotating, or was modified in content; the signer's identity is not verified against an authority. With your own certificate file (.p12 or .pfx) you can add a signature of your own: the key never leaves your browser, the password is used once, and the signature is written last, in the PAdES format other programs read, without a time stamp from an authority.

Tips

On a scanned page the text is a picture: write new text over it, or run Text recognition to make it searchable or to turn it into editable text; highlighting needs selectable text.
Letters that a form field's font does not have are written with a substitute font; the editor names them before you save.

Questions

Which text can I edit?: Lines whose font is embedded in the file as TrueType or OpenType, the usual case for PDFs made with Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs: you edit with the original font, and the alignment and the rest of the page stay as they were. Many files carry only the letters they use; if you type a letter that is not among them, we show you the line with a substitute font next to the original before you save, and you keep it or discard it. Text in pictures (use Text recognition instead), text drawn as shapes and text used as a mask for other content cannot be edited; you can cover it and write new text. A whole paragraph can be re-laid in its own space when you add or remove words; if it gets longer, it can push the paragraphs of the same column down — never onto the next page — or the editor shows you where it stops. Text set in an older font type (Type 1), common in files made with LaTeX, is edited with its original letters when the editor can convert the font; when it cannot, that line is written with a substitute font, shown before you save.
Can I edit the drawings in a PDF?: Lines, shapes and diagram parts drawn as vector graphics can be selected on their outline, then moved, resized, recoloured or deleted, with their line width and style changed; a group of drawings moves together. Some drawings can only be moved or deleted as a whole, not recoloured: those filled with a repeating pattern or a colour gradient, and those blended with what is under them; when the file does not allow the move, such a drawing can only be deleted, and the editor says so. Two kinds accept no change at all, and the editor says so: a drawing that also marks where other content is visible, and a drawing inside a reusable block shared with other pages; you can cover them. Text drawn as shapes is a drawing, not text.
Are the header, footer and watermark editable afterwards?: The header and footer are written as ordinary text on each chosen page, with the page number, number of pages, date, title or file name filled in, so afterwards you edit, move or delete each line like any text you add. A single text watermark is also text. A tiled or picture watermark is one block per page that you can move or delete, not change inside; to change it, delete it and add it again. All of these are new content on top of the page; the existing content is not touched.
Can I add or change form fields?: Yes. Choose Add field, pick a type — text, checkbox, radio button, list or drop-down, signature — and drag a box where it should go; a form that has no fields gets them the same way. Select a field to move or resize it, rename it, make it required or read-only, give it several lines or one character per box, edit the options of a list, choose the mark of a checkbox, change its colours and font size, or move it in the tab order; each change is a step you can undo. A digitally certified document refuses new fields and field changes — the editor says so, and the way around it is a copy without signatures; a form in an older form format (XFA) can still be filled but not changed. Fields locked by a signature stay as they are.
Can I edit tables?: Tables in a PDF come in two kinds, and the editor tells you which it found. A table with a structure in the file — the usual case for files made with Word or LibreOffice with accessibility tagging on — lets you edit any cell, insert a row below or delete a row; when a cell needs more lines, its row grows and the rows below, the table's lines and the paragraphs under the table move down. A table drawn only with lines, without a structure, is detected from those lines and from the text aligned in them: you can edit its cells, but rows cannot be added or deleted yet. A table in a scan stays a picture until you run Text recognition, and then becomes lines of text, not a table.
Does the editor work on a phone?: Yes, in a recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. Very large files may exceed a phone's memory; the editor says so and suggests a computer.
Can the editor check a digital signature?: Yes, on your device. For each signature the editor hashes the signed part of the file and checks the signature with the certificate inside the file, then compares what came after it: it tells you who signed and when, and whether the document has not been modified since signing, was modified only by filling and annotating, or was modified in content. Two honest limits: the signer's identity is not verified against an authority, because the browser has no store of trusted certificates — so the editor never says a signature is legally valid — and time stamps are shown, not verified. Older or unusual algorithms are reported as not checked, with the reason.
Can I sign with my own certificate?: Yes, with a .p12 or .pfx file and its password. The file is read in your browser: the private key goes into the browser's memory until you close the document, the password is used once and not kept, and nothing is sent anywhere. The signature is written when you save, as the last thing added to the file, in the PAdES format other PDF programs read, visible in a box or invisible; the editor then checks it with the same check it applies to any signature. A time stamp from an authority is not added, so the signing time is your device's clock. Saving the file again by rewriting it removes the signature; changes added to the file as a revision keep it.
Can I save as PDF/A?: You can save as PDF/A-2b, the archival form of PDF: fonts embedded, colours defined, file information in a standard form, nothing that depends on an outside program. The whole file is rewritten, so existing signatures are removed, and the result is checked before it is offered; when the check fails, you get the file with the list of what it still violates, most often a font the original does not embed — the editor does not re-embed the original's fonts or convert its colours. Text you add is written with embedded fonts, so it never breaks conformance by itself. Tagging for accessibility is a separate option: it marks the text and pictures you added, with the document language and alternative texts, and is not a full accessibility certification.