Are you looking for a quick and easy way to edit the text of a PDF file? Then I think you’ve come to the right place, at the right time. Below, in fact, you will find a nice collection of programs to edit PDF that can meet any need related to the editing of the type of documents in question, totally free or at a derisory cost compared to the most emblazoned software in the industry.
Among them, there are solutions that let you create PDFs from scratch and/or edit their contents (as if it were a Word document) but also tools that I like to define as “Swiss knives”, through which you can convert documents to other formats, extract the images contained in them, merge them, split them and much more.
Excuse me? Would you like to be able to work on your files without having to download and install anything on your computer? Well, in that case you can turn to the use of some online services that you can use directly from your browser. If you need to do it from mobile, you can consider using ad hoc apps for smartphones and tablets. Now, however, enough chatting and let’s move on to action. I wish you, as usual, good reading and good work!
Programs to edit PDF for free
Looking for programs to edit PDF for free from your computer? Then I recommend you to take advantage of the solutions that you find reported below. There are for Windows, macOS and Linux.
LibreOffice (Windows/MacOS/Linux)
If you’re looking for a free solution that allows you to freely edit PDFs, I can only recommend LibreOffice. This is a productivity suite at no cost and open source – according to many the best free alternative to Microsoft Office -, which allows not only to export any document in PDF format but also to edit existing files of this type. It is compatible with Windows, macOS and Linux and is completely in Italian.
To download LibreOffice on your computer, connect to the program’s official website and click on the Download xx version button. Once the download is complete, if you are using Windows, open the .msi file and click the Run button in the window that appears on your desktop. Next, press the Next button, select the Typical option and click the Next, Install, Yes and Finish buttons to complete the setup.
If you are using macOS, instead, open the .dmg package, move the LibreOffice icon to the Applications folder of your Mac, right-click on it and select Open twice in succession, in order to start the program and circumvent Apple’s restrictions on applications from non-certified developers (this should only be done on first start). Then close the software completely, using the key combination cmd+q.
Also on Mac, after completing the steps above, go back to the LibreOffice website and download the Italian translation of the suite (on Windows it is integrated “as standard”, so it is not necessary), by clicking on the Translated User Interface button.
When the download is complete, open the new .dmg package, right-click on the LibreOffice Language Pack executable inside it, select Open from the menu that appears and click the Open and Install buttons. Next, select the /Applications/LibreOffice.app entry from the window that appears and click the Install button.
If, while doing the above steps, you are told that you do not have high enough privileges to continue, click the Yes, identify me button, enter the password of your macOS user account in the window that opens and click the OK button (twice in a row), to complete the installation of the Language Pack for LibreOffice.
Once the installation is complete, start LibreOffice by selecting the appropriate shortcut in the Start menu (on Windows) or click on the icon added to the Launchpad (on macOS), then click on Open File at the top left of the window and select the PDF document of your interest.
After doing so, Draw, the suite’s application dedicated to creating printable documents, will launch. You can then edit the PDF using the icons located on the left sidebar and above: the geometric shapes and arrows to insert directions and circled elements into the document, the letter “T” to add custom text fields and so on. Instead, to edit the text of the PDF (where possible), simply select it with the mouse.
When you’re done, you can save your edited PDF by clicking on the File menu located at the top left and then choosing Save from it.
Microsoft Edge (Windows 10)
If you’re using a PC with Windows 10 installed, you don’t necessarily have to resort to the use of third-party tools to edit your PDF files. To succeed in the task, in fact, you can also consider relying on the use of Microsoft Edge, the operating system’s default browser, which, not everyone knows, also includes a document viewer of this type with several useful tools for editing PDFs.
To be able to use it for your purpose, first open the PDF file you are interested in working on by double-clicking on its icon. If Edge is not your default PDF viewer, do the following instead: right-click on the file and select Open with > Microsoft Edge from the context menu.
Once the PDF is displayed, you can edit it by using the tools on the toolbar at the top of the screen: clicking the Draw button allows you to draw freely on the document, clicking the Delete button removes the inserted drawings, and clicking the button with the circular arrow rotates the document. There are also buttons to change the view of the document and to zoom in and out.
When you’re done editing, to save the changes you’ve made to the file, click on the button with the floppy disk on the toolbar and you’re done.
PDFill FREE PDF Tools (Windows)
If you don’t need to work on the text of your documents, I highly recommend you to check out PDFill FREE PDF Tools. It is one of the best PDF editing programs available for free on Windows. It allows you to merge and split the documents belonging to these categories, convert them to images, encrypt and decrypt them (by removing the owner password), rotate or rearrange the pages and apply watermarks to them.
To download it to your computer, connect to its official website and click first on the Download now button located under the heading Get FREE basic version and then on the same button located at the center of the page that opens.
Once the download is complete, open the .exe file and, in the window that appears on your desktop, click first on the Yes button and then on the Next button. Then put the check mark next to the item I accept the terms in the License Agreement and complete the setup by clicking on the Next button (two consecutive times) and then the Install and Finish buttons.
If during setup you are asked to install Ghost Script and .Net Framework, accept. These are two free pieces of software – clean, containing no toolbars or other promotional content – that are required for PDFill FREE PDF Tools to work properly.
Once the installation is complete, in order to use PDFill FREE PDF Tools, all you have to do is launch it by selecting the relevant shortcut that has just been added to the Start menu, and click on one of the buttons on its main screen, the ones shown below, to select the function you are interested in.
Merge PDF files – to merge two or more PDF files into one;
Split or Reorder Pages – to split a document or reorder the pages in it;
Encrypt and Decrypt Options – to add or remove the password to PDF files (does not remove the password on opening);
Rotate or Crop PDF Pages – to rotate or crop PDF pages;
Reformat Multiple Pages – to change the format, margins and other properties of pages in a PDF document;
Add Header and Footer – to add headers and footnotes to PDF documents;
Add Watermark by Text – to add textual watermarks to PDFs;
Add Watermark by Image – to add graphic watermarks to PDFs;
Convert Images to PDF – to convert a series of images into a PDF file;
Convert PDF to Images – to convert a PDF to a series of images;
PDF Form Field Operations – to delete, extrapolate, or “flat” the data in PDF forms;
Convert PostScript into PDF – to convert PostScript files into PDF;
Add PDF Information – to edit title, author and other information of PDF files;
Scan into Image or PDF – to scan documents as images or PDF files;
Create Transparent Image – to create transparent images.
Once you have selected the tool you are interested in, choose the documents on which you want to work, adjust the related usage options and you’re done.
Preview (macOS)
If none of the PDF editing programs I’ve already suggested convinced you in a particular way and you own a Mac, you will surely be well pleased to find out that you can eventually consider relying on the use of Preview. In case you didn’t know, it is the default application on Apple-branded computers for viewing and editing images and PDFs.
In order to use it, open the document you want to work on by double-clicking on its icon. If Preview is not the default application for opening PDFs, right-click on the file you are interested in and select Open with > Preview from the context menu.
Once you have opened the document, click on the pencil icon in the upper right corner of the screen to enable the editing toolbar. Using the buttons on the toolbar in question you can then draw lines, insert text, signatures, geometric shapes etc.
If, on the other hand, you need to rotate the pages that make up your PDF, you need to click on the button with the square and the arrow at the top of the window, while pressing the button with the adjacent highlighter and the corresponding menu allows you to highlight and underline text.
When you have finished editing, simply close the document by pressing the circular button with the “x” at the top left of the window. All changes made will be saved automatically.
Programs for editing PDF in Word
Do you need to convert your PDF files into DOC or DOCX documents and would like me to recommend solutions for this purpose? No sooner said than done! Below, in fact, you will find what I believe to be the best programs to edit PDF in Word currently on the market, both for Windows and for macOS and Linux.
Word 2013 or later (Windows/MacOS)
If you need to convert PDF documents to DOC or DOCX files, you can first rely on Word, the word processing program included in Microsoft Office. Starting with the 2013 version, the program, in fact, is capable of importing PDFs and turning them into text documents, often without any problems.
To be able to use it for your purpose, if you already have Word installed on your computer, start the program by selecting its shortcut from the Start menu (on Windows) or by clicking on its icon in Launchpad (on macOS).
If you haven’t installed the program yet, to remedy this, stick to the instructions I provided in my guide on how to download Word, keeping in mind that this is not a free solution (the lowest cost is the one required to subscribe to the Microsoft 365 program, equal to 7 euros/month), but you can still try the program for 30 days without spending a penny and with no renewal obligation.
Now that you see the Word window on your screen, click on the File menu located at the top left, select Open from it and open the PDF document of your interest.
Next, click the OK button (to accept any alterations to the file layout), select the Save As item from the File menu and save the file choosing either DOC or DOCX format. Easier than that?
Other solutions
If you’re looking for alternatives to turn your PDFs into Word files, I suggest you consider the additional solutions I’ve provided in the list below.
Doxillion Document Converter (Windows/MacOS) – a program through which you can convert various types of documents from one format to another and which, of course, also allows you to turn PDF into Word files. It is free, but only for personal use. If you use it for commercial purposes, you need to buy a license (at a cost of $19.99).
PDFMate PDFConverter (Windows/MacOS) – free and very easy to use software that allows you to convert PDF to other file types including Word documents. It also allows advanced adjustment of output settings. It is free, but may be available in a Pro variant (at a cost of €43.86) which offers extra features.
PDFelement (Windows/MacOS) – this is software that allows you to view, edit, create and convert PDFs incredibly easily. It’s basically free, but it watermarks output documents and has other limitations, which can be circumvented by upgrading to the paid version (with prices starting at €77.23/year and €165.64 one-time).
Programs to edit PDF online
You don’t want or can’t download new software on your computer and would like me to suggest some programs to edit PDF online? No sooner said than done. Below, in fact, you will find reported what I believe to be the best solutions of the category, usable directly from the browser. Put them to the test now.
PDFescape
The online PDF editing service that I invite you to try is PDFescape. It allows you to edit PDF documents directly from your browser, without having to install anything on your computer. Registration is not required (but by creating an account you can save your uploaded documents on the Web) and it’s free. The only thing to keep in mind is that it only allows you to upload files with a maximum size of 10 MB, which must not consist of more than 100 pages.
To use PDFEscape, go to its main page and upload the document to be edited by dragging and dropping it into the box marked Drop PDF Here. Alternatively, you can upload the file “manually”, by clicking first on the Choose File button and then on the Upload button.
Next, use the PDFescape toolbar, visible on the left, to make all the necessary changes. The toolbar is divided into three tabs: in the one called Insert you’ll find buttons for inserting text, images, drawings and other custom elements into the document; in the one called Annotate you’ll find the highlighter and annotation functions; in the one called Page you’ll find useful functions for editing PDF pages, rotating, cutting and deleting them.
When you are satisfied with the result, click on the green double-arrow icon on the left side of the screen to download the modified PDF to your computer.
Are you looking for other online services through which you can edit your PDF files? If so, I invite you to take a look at the solutions you find in the following list.
PDFzorro – a free and very easy to use web service that allows you to edit PDFs by adding geometric shapes, rotating pages, etc. It does not require registration, but by logging in, you can save the history of edited documents. It does not require registration, but by logging in you can save the history of edited documents.
PDF Buddy – this is a web service that allows you to edit PDF files that are given to it “for food”, adding text, removing pages and much more. You don’t have to register, but by creating an account you can store your files online. Also, it’s free of charge by default, but by subscribing to one of the paid plans (with prices starting at $5.99/month) you can take advantage of some extra features.
DocHub – another online service that allows you to make changes to various types of documents, including PDFs. It’s free, but you have to register in order to use it. Note that it is also available in a paid variant (at a cost of $4.99/month), which allows you to unlock some additional features.
PDF editing apps
As mentioned at the beginning of this guide, if you don’t have a computer at hand, you can take advantage of PDF editing apps that can be used directly from Android smartphones and tablets and from iPhone/iPad. Here are the best ones.
Xodo PDF (Android/iOS/iPadOS) – app considered as one of the most comprehensive free solutions for PDF editing on mobile. It allows you to write on documents, add arrows, highlights and much more. It also integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive and other cloud storage services.
Foxit PDF (Android/iOS/iPadOS) – this is an application that allows you to easily edit PDF files by inserting annotations, highlights, etc. It’s free, but to unlock some advanced features, such as the ability to protect files with certificates, you need to upgrade to the paid version via in-app purchases (at a base cost of €11.49).
File (iOS/iPadOS) – is the default file manager for iPhone and iPad, but it also includes a PDF file viewer and ad hoc tools through which you can make various changes to documents of this type.