Add Page Numbers to PDF
Your files stay on this device. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored on a server.
Drop your files here
or pick them from your device
How it works
- Drop a PDF onto the bench, or pick one from your device.
- Choose where the number goes, what it looks like, and what number the first page should get.
- Press Add numbers and download the result.
Page numbers are the small thing that goes missing when a document is assembled from parts. Merge a cover letter, a scanned form and an export from a spreadsheet and you have a file whose pages are numbered three different ways, or not at all. Anyone who prints it and drops the stack has no way to put it back in order, and anyone referring to "page 7" in an email is guessing. This tool prints a consistent number on every page, in a corner or centred, in a plain typeface that does not compete with the content.
The starting number matters more than it looks. If the file is chapter three of something and the previous chapters ended on page 41, start at 42 and the numbering carries straight through. If there is a cover page that should not count, you can start at 0 so the first real page reads 1 — the cover will show a 0, which is easy to ignore and easy to crop.
Three formats are offered: the bare number, "Page 5", and "5 / 12" with the total. The total is worked out from the starting number, so a file that starts at 42 and runs for ten pages shows 51 as its last, which is what a reader expects. Position is a choice of six spots: left, centre or right, at the top or the bottom, a little way in from the edge so a printer's margin does not swallow it.
The numbers are drawn into the page content and become part of the file. Existing page numbers printed in the original are not detected or removed, so if a document already has some, you will end up with both.
Questions people ask
- My document already has page numbers. What happens?
- Both sets will show. The tool cannot detect or remove numbers that are part of the original page. Pick a corner the existing numbers do not use, or crop the old ones out first.
- How do I skip the cover page?
- Start the numbering at 0. The cover gets a 0 and the first real page gets 1. Leaving the cover completely unnumbered is not possible yet.
- Can I continue numbering from another document?
- Yes — set the start number to whatever comes next. The total in the "5 / 12" format follows the start number, so it stays correct.
- Which position should I use?
- Bottom centre is the convention for most documents. Bottom right suits reports that will be bound on the left. Top positions are common in legal and academic papers. Any of them works; consistency across your documents matters more than the choice.
- What font and size are used?
- Helvetica at 11 points, in dark grey, set 10 mm in from the page edge. There are no font choices — the aim is a number that is readable and invisible in the sense that nobody notices it.
- Does the file leave my computer?
- No. The numbers are added by your browser on this page. There is no upload.