PDF Editor Online Free – Private, In Your Browser
Edit the text, pages, forms and annotations of a PDF in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account and no watermark, and the edited copy is saved locally when you choose to export it.
Choose a PDF
Files stay on this device. Nothing is uploaded, logged or sent to a third party.
No file selected yet.
Choose a tool, then drag on a page. Whiteout only covers; a redact box also removes text inside it.
Pages 1 page
Find and replace
Replacements use the same rewrite as clicking a line. Review the per-line result list after saving.
Export
Nothing saved yet.
This page looks like a scan or an image. You can extract text with the Image to Text tool — it runs in your browser too.
Network requests reported while processing: 0
Counted during an automated browser test that processed a real file, excluding the page's own HTML, CSS, and script downloads. Saved in docs/test-results/pdf-editor.json.
How to use PDF Editor
- 1 Drop a PDF into the workspace. It opens in the viewer, and the original file stays untouched on your device.
- 2 Select a page to edit its text, reorder or rotate pages, add annotations, or fill in form fields. Find and replace covers repeated wording across the document.
- 3 Export a new PDF. The editor reopens the saved copy and checks the page count and text edits before offering it for download.
What it does — and what it doesn't
pdf.js renders each page and extracts its text runs, so the page you see and the text you edit share one layout model. Simple edits are written back into the page content stream. Edits the stream cannot express safely, such as rotated text, text inside Form XObjects or text that needs a different font, are drawn as an overlay above the original string, so the old text stays hidden underneath rather than being destroyed. Pages, annotations, form values and overlays are committed in a single pdf-lib pass, and the saved bytes are reopened and checked before download. Rendering and saving both run in local memory.
Limits and browser boundaries
- Scanned PDFs have no text layer, so there is nothing to edit until OCR has been applied. This editor does not do OCR.
- When a font cannot be embedded as a subset, the whole font file is embedded instead. The saved PDF still opens correctly but grows noticeably in size.
- Rotated text and text inside Form XObjects are saved as an overlay: the new text sits on top and the original string remains in the file underneath.
- Saving a digitally signed PDF keeps the signature field but invalidates the cryptographic signature. Use a copy if the signature must stay valid.
- Password-protected PDFs open with the password, but the saved copy is no longer password-protected and does not keep the original permission flags.
- Redaction removes the visible text of the selected runs. Images and vector artwork underneath a redaction box are not removed.
- Drafts are stored in this browser only and are limited to files up to 5 MB. Larger documents can still be edited and exported, but they are not autosaved.
- Memory caution: PDFs above 50 MB show a warning when they are selected. Larger files can still be opened, but they may be slow or run out of memory on phones. No hard size cap.
Measured on our test files
Real numbers recorded in automated browser tests, saved in docs/test-results/pdf-editor.json.
| Fixture / Scenario | Input | Output / Result | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| helvetica.pdfOpened, replaced “Helvetica line one” with “Measured edit” and saved as helvetica-edited.pdf; the saved copy was reopened and checked with pdf.js in the release test · 1 pages | 1.2 KB | 1.5 KB | 1,733 ms |
| thirty-pages.pdfOpened and rendered every page in order from page 1 to page 30 · 30 pages | 38.7 KB | — | 3,335 ms |
Client-Side Privacy Proof
All computation executes strictly inside your device CPU and GPU memory. Your file bytes, photos, and document text are never uploaded or transmitted to any server.
Verify it yourself in 5 seconds:
- Press F12 (or right click → Inspect) and switch to the Network tab.
- Drop your file into the tool above and click process.
- Confirm that zero outbound requests or file payloads leave your computer.
Frequently asked questions
Are my PDF files uploaded to a server?
No. The PDF is read, rendered and saved inside this browser tab. You can confirm in the Developer Tools Network tab; there is no account, upload or watermark.
Can I edit a PDF like a word processor?
Not exactly. Existing text can be changed in place, and pages, forms and annotations can be edited. Text reflow, paragraph-level layout changes and word-processor styling are outside this version.
Is my original file changed?
No. The original stays untouched on your device; you download a new copy. Edits are held in memory, and a draft is stored in this browser only for documents up to 5 MB.
What happens when the PDF uses a font that is not installed here?
The editor matches the original font to a bundled font and embeds it. If that font cannot be subset, the whole font is embedded, which makes the file larger. The rest of the page keeps its original fonts.
Will saving break a digital signature?
Yes. The signature field is preserved in the document structure, but any change to the bytes invalidates the cryptographic signature. If the signature must remain valid, edit a copy and keep the signed original.
Can I edit a password-protected PDF?
You can open it with its password and edit it, but the exported copy is saved without that password and without the original permission flags. Keep the protected original if you need that protection.
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