One grid for every page job
Fixing a PDF often takes several small steps: a scan with one page sideways, a blank page in the middle, an appendix in the wrong place, a cover sheet that should come first. Here all of these happen in one place. Every page of every file you open appears as a preview in one grid, and the PDF you save follows that grid from the first page to the last.
- Move: drag a page by its handle to a new place. With a mouse you can drag the whole card. The left and right arrows under each page move it one place, which also works with the keyboard. When several pages are selected and you drag one of them, they all move together and keep their order.
- Rotate: the rotate button turns one page a quarter turn to the right. Rotate left and Rotate right in the toolbar turn every selected page.
- Delete: remove one page with its trash button, or all selected pages at once.
- Duplicate: put a copy right after a page, for example to repeat a cover sheet or a form that needs two signatures.
- Blank page: add an empty page after a page, or after the selection (at the end when nothing is selected). It can match the size of the page before it, or be US Letter or A4.
- Select: click a preview to select it, Shift-click to select a range, or use Select all. Undo and Redo step back and forth through every change.
Pages from different files can be mixed freely. Each file gets a letter, so a card that reads B, page 4 is the fourth page of the second file. To join whole files without changing pages, Merge PDF is quicker. To cut a document into several files, use Split PDF. For one job at a time there are also Reorder PDF Pages, Rotate PDF and Delete PDF Pages, which edit a single file in place.
How rotation is stored
A PDF page carries its rotation as a number, the /Rotate entry of the page, and the content of the page stays as it is. This tool sets that entry with the PDF library pdf-lib, whose documentation describes setRotation as rotating a page by a multiple of 90 degrees and getRotation as returning an angle that is always a multiple of 90. When a page already had a rotation, the new turn is added to it, so a page stored at 90 degrees and turned right once more is saved at 180 degrees. The preview shows the page as a viewer will show it.
Why the file size barely changes
The tool does not redraw your pages. When you save, the pages of each file are copied into a new PDF with their text, fonts, pictures and drawings as they are, so text stays selectable and searchable and nothing is compressed again. Pages that come from the same file are copied in one step, which lets them share fonts and pictures instead of storing them twice. A duplicated page is a second page entry that points to the same content, and a blank page holds almost nothing, so neither adds much. Deleted pages are not copied, so removing pages with large pictures usually makes the file smaller.
Because the result is a new document built from the pages, a few things that belong to the whole document rather than to a page may not come along: bookmarks, the links between pages and fillable form fields. If you need those, keep the changes in one file and use the single-job tools above, which edit the original document in place.
What does not work
Encrypted PDFs, with a password or with editing restrictions, cannot be opened here. If the document is yours and you know the password, remove it with Unlock PDF and open the unlocked copy. The grid holds up to 1,000 pages. Previews are drawn only when a page scrolls into view and kept as small images, so files with a few hundred pages stay responsive. Every opened file stays in your browser's memory until you start over, so very large files can fail on phones and tablets, iPhone and iPad included. If that happens, organize the document in parts.
Privacy
Everything runs in your browser. The files are read from your device, the previews are drawn on it and the new PDF is written on it. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored after you close the page, which matters for contracts, medical letters, tax papers and scans of IDs.
How to organize a PDF
- 1Drop one or more PDFs on the box or choose them from your device. Previews of all pages appear in one grid.
- 2Drag pages into order, rotate, delete or duplicate them, and add blank pages where you need them. Select several pages to change them together. Undo any step you do not like.
- 3Name the file and press Save PDF. The new PDF downloads right away.
Sources
- pdf-lib documentation: PDFPage (setRotation and getRotation, multiples of 90 degrees)
- pdf-lib documentation: PDFDocument (copyPages, addPage)
Related guides
- How to Fix a Scanned PDF: The Right Order of Steps
- Email Attachment Size Limits, and How to Get Under Them
- How Long to Keep Tax Records: The IRS Periods, With Dates
Frequently asked questions
Can I organize pages from several PDFs at once?
Yes. Open two or more PDFs, together or one after the other. Their pages appear in one grid, each marked with a letter for its file, and you can move a page from one file between the pages of another. Save writes one combined PDF in the order of the grid.
How do I move a page on a phone?
Hold the handle in the top corner of a page and drag it to its new place. Near the top or bottom edge of the screen the page scrolls along. You can also use the left and right arrows under each page, which move it one place at a time.
Does the PDF lose quality?
No. The pages are copied as they are, not turned into images. Text stays text you can select and search, and pictures are not compressed again. Rotation only changes the angle stored with the page.
Can I undo a change?
Yes. Undo and Redo cover every change in the grid: moves, rotations, deletions, copies and blank pages. The keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z (Cmd on a Mac) work too, as long as the focus is not in a text field.
Why does my PDF not open?
Most often it is encrypted, with a password or with restrictions on editing. This tool cannot change encrypted files. If it is your document and you know the password, remove it with Unlock PDF first, then open the unlocked copy here.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Your browser reads the PDFs, draws the previews and writes the new PDF on your own device. Nothing is sent to a server.