Getting the order right
Merging is easy. Getting the pages in the right order is the part people redo, so that’s where this tool spends its effort.
Each PDF you drop shows a small picture of its first page, its page count and its size, so you can tell “scan (2).pdf” from “scan (3).pdf” without opening them. Drag a file to move it. On a keyboard, focus the handle and use the arrow keys.
If your files are numbered, press Sort by name. It sorts the way people count, so “part 2” comes before “part 10”. Plain alphabetical sorting, which many apps use, puts “part 10” first and quietly scrambles a long set.
Things people merge most
- An application pack. A form, ID proof, address proof and certificates in one PDF, in the order the checklist asks for. Put the filled form first: whoever opens it sees that first.
- Pages from a phone scanning app that saved each page as its own PDF.
- Monthly bank statements for a loan or visa application, oldest to newest.
- Chapters or sections written by different people, before sending a report.
Locked PDFs
Bank statements and some e-documents come with a password. When you add one, it asks for its password right there in the list, and the rest carry on. The password is used on your device to read the pages and isn’t kept. The merged PDF opens without a password. If it needs one again, run it through Protect PDF afterwards.
What stays the same
Every page is copied exactly as it was. Text stays selectable and searchable, and nothing is compressed again, so pages don’t get blurrier. The bookmarks (the clickable outline some long PDFs have in the sidebar) aren’t carried over yet.
The new file is named after the first one, like application-form-merged.pdf, so you can find it in Downloads.
Merging photos with PDFs
This tool takes PDFs. If some of your pages are photos, turn them into a PDF first with JPG to PDF or Images to PDF, then merge that with the rest.
After merging
A merged pack is often too big for the form it’s going to. Compress PDF can take it under a limit like 200 KB in one step. Add page numbers helps when someone will print it or refer to “page 7”, and Organize PDF lets you move single pages around if a page ended up in the wrong place.
Checked against the tool on 22 October 2026. How we write and test these guides