How to Combine PDFs Without Installing Software

You don’t need Adobe Acrobat ($20/month) to combine PDFs. Every modern operating system has built-in tools, and our browser-based PDF Merger handles the rest. Here’s the no-installation guide.

Quickest path: our PDF Merger

Use the PDF Merger in any browser:

1. Open the PDF Merger
2. Drag your PDFs into the upload area
3. Drag to reorder them (the order in the list = order in final PDF)
4. Click Merge
5. Download the combined PDF

Browser-based, no upload, no installation, no signup. Works on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android.

Built into your operating system

Mac (Preview app)

Already on every Mac:

1. Open the first PDF in Preview
2. View → Thumbnails to show the sidebar
3. Drag additional PDFs into the sidebar
4. Drag thumbnails to reorder
5. File → Export as PDF

The result is a single PDF with all the pages.

Windows (built-in print)

A trick using Windows’ “Microsoft Print to PDF”:

1. Open the first PDF in any viewer
2. Use the print dialog (Ctrl+P)
3. Choose Microsoft Print to PDF as printer
4. Print — saves as PDF

Repeat for each PDF, then combine using a third-party tool. Awkward; our PDF Merger is simpler.

iPhone (Files app)

Built into iOS 16 and later:

1. Open Files
2. Navigate to where your PDFs are
3. Tap Select
4. Tap each PDF in order
5. Tap the more options button
6. Choose Create PDF

Single combined PDF created in the same folder.

Android (Google Drive)

Built into the Drive app:

1. Open Google Drive
2. Tap the + button
3. Tap Scan
4. Tap the gallery icon to import existing PDFs
5. Add each PDF in order
6. Save

See our Combine PDFs on Phone guide for more.

Free alternatives if needed

Various free options exist:

LibreOffice Draw: free desktop software. Open multiple PDFs as separate pages, then save as one PDF.

PDFsam Basic: free desktop PDF tool with merge specifically.

SmallPDF, ilovepdf (online): upload-based, free with limitations.

For privacy-sensitive content, the browser-based PDF Merger is the cleanest path.

When to use what

For one quick merge: built-in OS tools (Preview on Mac, Files on iPhone).

For repeated use: bookmark our PDF Merger.

For Windows specifically: our browser tool is simpler than Windows’ built-in.

For Mac users with regular needs: Preview handles everything you’d need.

For privacy: browser-based (no upload) or local OS tools.

What about iLovePDF or SmallPDF?

Online services like these work but require uploading your PDFs to their servers. For:

• Sensitive content: privacy concern
• Frequent use: rate limits and ads
• Bigger files: upload times and size limits

For occasional use of non-sensitive content, these are fine. For everything else, browser-based or OS tools.

After combining

Compress for email: PDF Compressor shrinks the combined file.

Split a section: PDF Splitter extracts specific pages.

Rotate pages: PDF Rotator if any are sideways.

Add OCR: PDF OCR for scanned content.

TL;DR

• Browser-based: PDF Merger — works on any device
• Mac: Preview with thumbnail drag
• iPhone: Files app select → Create PDF
• Android: Google Drive scan flow
• No installation, no signup required
• For sensitive content: avoid upload-based online services