How to Merge Multiple PDF Files Into One for Free
Combine multiple PDFs into one file for free using iLovePDF or Smallpdf online, Windows' print trick, Mac Preview, or an offline app like PDFsam.
The fastest free way to merge PDF files is a browser tool like iLovePDF or Smallpdf: upload the files, drag them into order, and download one combined document in under a minute. If the files are sensitive, skip the upload and use a free offline app such as PDFsam Basic, or Preview if you are on a Mac. Windows and Microsoft Edge cannot merge finished PDFs on their own, but there is a narrow print-based trick worth knowing.
Free Online Tools: iLovePDF and Smallpdf
Both iLovePDF and Smallpdf offer a dedicated Merge PDF tool with no signup required for basic use. The workflow is the same on either site:
- Open the Merge PDF tool and upload your files from your device, Google Drive, or Dropbox.
- Drag the file thumbnails into the order you want the final document to read.
- Click Merge (iLovePDF) or Finish (Smallpdf).
- Download the combined PDF.
The privacy caveat: your files leave your computer and are processed on the vendor’s servers, not locally. iLovePDF states files are automatically deleted within two hours of processing, and Smallpdf says it deletes files after one hour, with both transferring files over encrypted connections. That is fine for a resume, a public form, or a school assignment. For anything with account numbers, medical records, contracts, or client data, use one of the offline methods below instead.
The Microsoft Edge and Print-to-PDF Workaround
Edge’s built-in PDF reader can view, search, annotate, and fill PDFs, but it does not have a button to combine two existing PDF files into one, despite what some tutorials imply. The genuinely free, built-in Windows trick works differently: Windows’ Microsoft Print to PDF virtual printer can turn a batch of image files into a single multi-page PDF. Select several scanned pages saved as JPG or PNG in File Explorer, right-click, choose Print, pick Microsoft Print to PDF as the printer, and Windows outputs one PDF containing every selected image as a page. Check the page order afterward, since File Explorer does not always preserve your selection order.
That trick only applies to images. Windows has no built-in feature to merge PDF files that already exist as PDFs. Microsoft does offer a real Merge option inside OneDrive for the web (open a PDF, select More options > Merge), but it requires a paid Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Basic subscription, so it is not actually a free route for most people.
Merging PDFs on a Mac With Preview
macOS’s built-in Preview app merges PDFs without any download, according to Apple’s support documentation:
- Open the PDFs you want to combine in Preview.
- In each window, choose View > Thumbnails to show the page sidebar.
- Drag thumbnails from one PDF’s sidebar into another PDF’s sidebar to add pages, or drag an entire PDF file from Finder straight into the sidebar to add all of it at once.
- Drag thumbnails within the sidebar to reorder pages.
Preview saves changes automatically, so use File > Duplicate on each original first if you want to keep the source files intact alongside the merged copy.
Free Offline Apps When You Do Not Want to Upload Anything
Two well-established free tools process files entirely on your own computer:
- PDFsam Basic is free and open source, has been developed since 2006, and runs locally on Windows, Mac, and Linux with no account, no watermark, and no file-size limit.
- PDF24 Creator installs a free desktop version of PDF24’s online tools, so merging happens on your PC instead of a server.
Both follow the same pattern: open the merge tool, drag your PDFs into the list, reorder them, click merge, and save the result locally.
Which Method Should You Use?
| Method | Cost | Where files are processed | Upload required | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iLovePDF / Smallpdf | Free | Vendor’s servers, auto-deleted in 1–2 hours | Yes | Quick one-off merges of non-sensitive files |
| Microsoft Print to PDF | Free (built into Windows) | Your PC | No | Combining scanned images into one PDF, not existing PDFs |
| Preview (Mac) | Free (built into macOS) | Your Mac | No | Mac users merging any number of PDFs |
| PDFsam Basic / PDF24 Creator | Free | Your PC | No | Sensitive documents, frequent merging, no size limits |
| OneDrive Merge | Requires Microsoft 365 subscription | Microsoft cloud | Yes | Microsoft 365 subscribers already storing files in OneDrive |
If the file names do not sort into the order you need pages to appear, rename them with numeric prefixes (01-, 02-, and so on) before merging with any tool. If you edit pages before combining them, our guide to how to edit a PDF for free covers the free options. And if you need to pull the text out of a PDF afterward, see how to convert a PDF to Word.
For a one-time merge of a resume and cover letter, a web tool is the fastest option. For anything containing financial, medical, or client information, install PDFsam Basic once and you will not need to upload a sensitive file to a stranger’s server again. Whichever route you pick, check the merged file page by page before you send it: merging tools occasionally drop a page or leave pages out of order, and if the result is too large to email, see how to compress a PDF file to shrink it back down.