How to Combine PDF Files Into One Document

Combining PDFs is useful whenever several documents belong together: an application pack, a month of receipts, chapters of a report. Here is a clean way to do it.

Step by step

• Gather the files in one folder and rename them so the order is obvious (01-cover, 02-cv and so on).
• Open Merge PDF and add all the files.
• Use the arrows to fix the order, then merge and download.

The merge runs in your browser, so sensitive paperwork is not uploaded.

If a file will not merge

A password-protected PDF cannot be merged. Remove its password first with Unlock PDF. If the file is damaged you will see a message saying it could not be read; try opening and re-saving it in a PDF viewer.

Things to do after merging

• Add continuous numbering with Add page numbers so every page in the combined file has a unique number.
• If the result is too big to email, run Compress PDF.
• Check the page order by scrolling through once. Rearranging individual pages is easy with Reorder PDF pages.

Mixing in images and Office files

Images can be turned into PDF pages with JPG to PDF, and Word files with Word to PDF. Convert everything to PDF first, then merge.