How to edit a PDF for free on iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows

You can edit a PDF for free on any device: iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows and Chromebook all have built-in tools for highlighting, drawing, signing and (mostly) adding text, and S-PDF's online editor does the same in any browser, free, with no sign-up and no app to install. None of the built-in tools can change the words already in the PDF.

How to edit a PDF free on any device, in your browser

A browser editor works the same on every phone and computer. With S-PDF Edit PDF:

1. Open the page in any modern browser and choose your PDF, or drag it onto the upload box. On a phone, tap the box and pick the file.
2. Pick a tool: Text, Image, Box, Ellipse, Line, Arrow, Draw or Whiteout, then tap or click the page.
3. Style text in Sans, Serif or Mono, at 6 to 144 pt, with bold, italic and any colour. Double-click any text box to change its wording. Drag items to move them, resize them from the corner handle, and remove them with × or Delete.
4. Click Save PDF. You can have the file emailed to you, or skip that and download it straight away.

You don't need an account, nothing is watermarked and there's no daily limit; each task takes one PDF of up to 50 MB. There's no undo button. Saving merges your additions into the page, but Back to options reopens the editor with everything still editable.

Adding text vs changing the text that's already there

Edit PDF and every built-in tool below add things on top of the page. A PDF stores text as characters fixed at exact positions, often in a font that's only partly embedded, so retyping a word in place needs a tool built for it. Two free options:

• Cover and retype: draw a Whiteout box over the old word and type the new one on top.
• Edit it in place: in PDF Studio, choose Edit text and click a line to retype it. It picks up the font, size and colour and changes the text line by line, without reflowing paragraphs. Our guide to editing text in a PDF explains the details.

A Whiteout box is a cover, not an eraser: anyone with the file can still search for or copy the words underneath. Private details such as account numbers belong in Redact PDF, which takes them out of the page.

iPhone and iPad: Markup in Files or Preview

Apple's Markup tools are built in, so there's nothing to install. In the Files app:

1. Open the PDF. If it came by email, open it in Files when prompted.
2. Tap the Markup button to show the toolbar. The pens and highlighter draw freehand.
3. Tap the + button and choose Add Text, Add Signature or Add Shape. Tap a text box to type in it, and use the toolbar to change the font, size and colour.
4. On a form, tap a blank field and type. To write where there's no field, tap + and choose Add Text Form Box.
5. Tap Done. Names vary a little between iOS versions.

In iOS and iPadOS 26 and later, the Preview app offers the same annotation tools, plus page tools to add, delete, rotate, move or crop pages. Apple's guides cover adding text, shapes and signatures, not retyping the words already on the page; for that, use PDF Studio in Safari. Starting from paper? Scan to PDF uses your phone's camera to make the PDF first.

Android: Google Drive and Files by Google

What your phone can do depends on its maker, but Google's own apps cover the basics:

• Google Drive: open the PDF and tap the annotate button at the bottom right for a pen, highlighter, eraser and undo. Save over the original or as a new copy.
• Fillable forms in Drive: tap Edit → Form Filling, type your answers, then tap Save. If the option is missing, the PDF probably has no fillable fields.
• Files by Google: tap Edit on an open PDF for the same pen and highlighter. Save copy uploads the result to Google Drive.
• Chrome (Android 12 and later): tap Edit on an open PDF and it opens in Google Drive.

Google's help pages for these apps describe freehand tools and form filling only: no typed text box outside form fields and no way to change existing text. Some phone makers add their own PDF tools. To type on a form that isn't fillable, white out a mistake or place a signature image, open S-PDF in Chrome; there's nothing to install. See how to add text to a PDF for lining text up with form boxes.

Mac: Preview

Preview comes with every Mac and adds text, shapes, highlights, notes and signatures:

1. Open the PDF in Preview and click the Show Markup Toolbar button if the toolbar isn't showing.
2. Click the Text tool, type, then drag the text box into place. Text Style changes the font and colour.
3. Click Sign to add a signature. The first time, create one with your trackpad, your Mac's camera (sign on white paper) or a nearby iPhone or iPad.
4. Choose File → Save to keep the annotations editable, or File → Print → Save as PDF to flatten them into the page.

If a form won't let you type in it, click Show Form Filling Toolbar and use the Text Box tool. Apple states the limit plainly: "you can't edit the text of a PDF in Preview" (Apple's Preview guide). To change a word, use PDF Studio.

Windows: Microsoft Edge

Windows 10 and 11 come with Microsoft Edge, which has a built-in PDF reader. If your PDFs open in another app, right-click the file and choose Open with → Microsoft Edge. Then:

1. Choose Add text in the PDF toolbar, click where the text should go and type. Select the text box to move it or change the font.
2. Use Draw, with your own colour and stroke width, to write notes or sign by hand, and Highlight to mark passages.
3. Click into a form's fillable fields to type in them. Microsoft notes that Edge doesn't support older XFA forms.
4. Save a copy from the toolbar.

Labels vary a little between versions, and Microsoft describes adding text, highlights and ink, not changing existing text. For a neater signature than ink, Sign PDF lets you draw, type or upload one, free.

Chrome on a computer, and Chromebook

Chrome's built-in PDF viewer can mark up PDFs too. According to Google's Chrome Help, on a computer you:

1. Open the PDF in Chrome (you may need to open it in a new tab).
2. Select Draw, then Pen or Highlighter, and pick a size and colour. Draw your signature the same way.
3. Select Add text, choose the font, style and colour in the sidebar, then click where the text should go.
4. Select Download → With your changes.

Button names can differ between Chrome versions. On a Chromebook, PDFs open in the Gallery app by default. It has Text, Annotate (pen, highlighter and eraser) and a signature button that keeps your signature for next time, and its sidebar rotates and reorders pages. Select Save, or the arrow beside it to save a new file. Neither Chrome nor Gallery lists a way to change existing text.

What about Adobe Acrobat Reader?

The free Acrobat Reader app (Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android) lets you add comments and sticky notes, type text onto the page, highlight, fill in forms and sign. Adobe's Reader FAQ says you can't make permanent changes to text or images in Reader; for that you need paid Acrobat.

Which method should you use?

For a quick note or signature on your own device, the built-in tool is fine. Use S-PDF when you want the same steps everywhere, typed text on Android, whiteout, or a change to the existing words. For a full tour of the editor, see how to edit a PDF online for free.

Frequently asked questions

Can I edit a PDF on my iPhone for free?

Yes. Markup in the Files app, or the Preview app in iOS 26 and later, adds text, shapes, highlights and signatures. To change existing text, use PDF Studio in Safari, free and with no app or account.

How do I edit a PDF on Android without an app?

Chrome's Edit button sends the PDF to the Google Drive app, which offers freehand pen and highlighter tools only. To type text, add images or white something out with no app at all, use S-PDF in Chrome.

Can Preview on a Mac edit the text in a PDF?

No. Apple says you can't edit a PDF's text in Preview; it adds text boxes, shapes, notes and signatures on top. PDF Studio can retype existing words in a matching font.

Can I edit a PDF in Chrome?

On a computer, yes: Chrome's viewer can draw, highlight, add text and take a hand-drawn signature. Choose Download → With your changes to keep them. It doesn't change existing text.

Can I edit a PDF on a Chromebook?

Yes. The built-in Gallery app adds text, pen and highlighter marks and a saved signature, and can rotate or reorder pages. For whiteout, images or changes to the existing words, open S-PDF in Chrome.

Is S-PDF really free, with no sign-up?

Yes: no account, no watermark, no daily limit and nothing to pay, with up to 50 MB per task. After saving, you can have the file emailed to you, or skip that and download it straight away.

Is a browser editor as safe as the built-in apps?

The built-in apps don't need to upload your file, so use them for documents that must stay on your device. On S-PDF, files go over HTTPS to our own servers, with no third-party services involved. We don't share, sell or use them, and they're deleted automatically, or sooner from the My files page. See our privacy policy.

Published 29 October 2026 · Last updated 29 October 2026