PDF for Free

The PDF editor that's actually free.

Is it the best PDF editor?
No, it is not.
Did I make it because I graduated and my school took away my free access to Adobe Acrobat?
Yes, I did.
Will it work all the time?
Probably not.
Is it free?
Yes, 100%. (Unless you want a better OCR or cloud storage. I'm not a charity to give that away for free.)

Version 1.0.0 · free, no catch

Free and on-device.

letter.pdf - edited
the document's own font

Opening it the first time

It is a free app I sign myself, not through a paid developer program, so the first launch shows a warning on Mac and on Windows. You only do this once.

macOS

  1. Open the .dmg and drag PDF Text Editor into your Applications folder.
  2. If macOS says the app is damaged or cannot be opened, open the Terminal app and paste this line, then press Return: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/PDF Text Editor.app"
  3. Open PDF Text Editor normally. It opens every time after that.

No Terminal? Control-click the app in Applications, choose Open, then Open again.

Windows

  1. Run the downloaded .exe installer.
  2. If Microsoft Defender SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC," click More info, then Run anyway.
  3. Finish installing and open PDF Text Editor normally.

Or right-click the .exe, choose Properties, tick Unblock, then OK before running.

Everyone says free. Then the asterisk shows up.

You go to edit one PDF and hit a wall. Turns out the free part was just opening it. The usual catches:

×

Free to open, paid to edit

Viewing and the odd comment are free. Changing the actual text is behind a monthly subscription.

×

A watermark on your file

Your export gets stamped with their logo until you upgrade to a paid plan.

×

A few files a day

Then a daily limit, a countdown, and a checkout page.

×

Uploaded to their server

The editing happens in their cloud, so your document leaves your machine to do it.

Here, free means free.

The app and 100% of the PDF editing are free, forever. The only things you ever pay for are cloud features that cost real money to run.

  • The editor is free forever. No subscription, no trial.
  • A free account to sign in, and no credit card.
  • No watermark on anything you save.
  • No cap on pages or file size.
  • Your PDFs stay on your computer, unless you turn on a cloud feature.
  • No ads, no tracking, nothing harvested from your files.

It actually edits PDFs.

Not a viewer with a comment tool bolted on. A real editor that changes what is on the page.

Edit text in place

Click any line and retype it. The replacement is set in the document's own font, so the page still looks like the original, not a patch.

Fix scanned PDFs

Built-in OCR turns a flat scan into real text you can select, search, and edit.

Add, move, resize, delete

Drop a new text box anywhere, drag boxes to reposition, resize them, or remove them outright.

Annotate and sign

Highlight, mark up, and drop a signature where it belongs.

Work with pages

Reorder, rotate, split, and merge pages without leaving the app.

Edit a PDF in the next two minutes.

Download it, make an account, open a PDF, click a line of text. That is the whole setup.

Ready to go?