How to Merge and Split PDF Files the Right Way

Documents rarely arrive the way you need them. A job application comes as a cover letter, a resume and a certificate in three separate files. A scan of a whole contract is one huge PDF when you only need to send page four. Merging and splitting PDFs solves both problems, and neither takes more than a minute.

When to merge PDFs

• Sending an application with all its attachments as one file.
• Putting receipts together for an expense report.
• Combining chapters or sections that were written by different people.
• Making one tidy file out of several scans.

How to merge PDFs

1. Open the Merge PDF tool.
2. Add the PDF files you want to combine (up to 20 MB each).
3. Check the order, because the pages will appear in the order of your files.
4. Press Generate and download the merged document.

A helpful habit is to rename the files with numbers such as 01, 02 and 03 before uploading. It makes the order obvious and avoids mistakes.

When to split a PDF

• You only need to share one page of a long document.
• You want to handle each page of a scan as its own file.
• A document is too large to email and you want to send it in parts.

How to split a PDF

1. Open the Split PDF tool.
2. Upload your PDF (up to 20 MB).
3. Press Generate. Every page becomes its own PDF, and you download them together as a ZIP file.
4. Unpack the ZIP to find the page you need.

Fixing the order and the pages

Real documents often need a little cleanup as well. The same category includes tools for this: you can rotate pages that came out sideways with Rotate PDF, number the pages of the final document with Add Page Numbers, and make the file smaller with Compress PDF before you send it.

A simple workflow that works

1. Split a long document if you only need part of it.
2. Rotate any pages that are sideways.
3. Merge the pages and files you want into one document.
4. Add page numbers if the document is long.
5. Compress the result if you plan to email it.

A note on protected files

If one of your PDFs is password protected, remove the password with the Unlock PDF tool first, using the password you already have. Then merge or split the unlocked copy. You can protect the final document again afterwards.

Keep your originals untouched. Every tool here gives you a new file, so you can always go back and try again.