Tips and shortcuts

Open a file without the picker

If you've copied a PDF in your file manager, you can paste it straight into the app. Press Ctrl + V (or ⌘V on a Mac) and it opens without a file dialog.

Where it opens depends on the page you're on. On a tool page like Split or Compress, the file loads into that tool. On a page tool like Delete pages, Rotate, or Edit text, the editor opens with that tool ready. On any other page, it opens in the plain editor.

Dragging works too. Drop a PDF onto the box on the home page, or onto the editor's drop box before a file is loaded. Picking the same file twice in a row also works.

If a PDF is already open in the editor, Ctrl + V does something else. It drops a copied image or signature onto the page, so pasting never replaces the file you're working on.

Move a file between tools

Pick the job on the home page and your file is ready when the tool opens. The tabs handle the routing. Edit opens the editor ready to change text. Sign opens it on the signature pad. Merge and Split have their own pages.

The Convert tab also checks the file you give it. If you drop a Word file while the menu still says PDF, it switches to the matching conversion for you. To pin the conversion you use most, click Make default, and the picker will open on it next time.

Because nothing is uploaded, your file can go from one screen to the next without a download in between. After you merge a stack, click Reorder in editor and the combined PDF opens for touch-ups. One thing to know: reloading the page partway through loses the file, so you'd need to pick it again.

You're not limited to the handful of next steps a tool suggests. When a tool finishes, the More tools… button on the result screen sends the finished file on to any other tool. Inside the editor, the Tools panel has an All tools… row that does the same with whatever you're working on. Tools that can pick up your file are marked; the rest open fresh — and either way nothing is uploaded.

From anywhere in the app, press Ctrl + K (or ⌘K on a Mac) to search every tool by name and jump straight to it. If you have a file open in the editor, the search can send it along too. Your last few tools show up there as well, kept on this device only.

Every tool also has its own address, like /tools/merge-pdf or /tools/edit-pdf-text. Bookmark the one you use most and you can skip the home page.

Drag the finished file where you want it

When a tool is done, it gives you a download button for the file it made. In Chrome or Edge you can grab that button and drag it straight to a folder, your desktop, or an email you're writing. The file lands there with the right name, and it never stops off in your Downloads folder on the way.

Clicking the button saves it the usual way, so use whichever suits the moment. In Safari and Firefox, or on a phone, the drag isn't there and the button just downloads like it always has. Nothing about saving changes.

Editor keyboard shortcuts

Once a PDF is open, most of the editor works from the keyboard. When your cursor is in a text field the shortcuts pause, so they don't get in the way of your typing. Undo, redo, and bold/italic keep working while you edit text. On a Mac, use ⌘ (Command) anywhere it says Ctrl.

Working with pages

The thumbnail strip down the side is the quickest way to reorganize a document. Click a page to jump to it. Shift-click another to select the range between them, or Ctrl-click to add and remove single pages. Once some pages are selected, you can rotate, duplicate, delete, or export just those pages as a new PDF. You can also drag a thumbnail to move it, or hover over one for its own rotate, duplicate, and delete buttons.

To find text in a long file, press Ctrl + F. It searches the text on every page, with match-case and whole-word options if you need them. Enter jumps to the next match, and Shift + Enter goes to the one before. It finds text and takes you to it. There's no replace.

Why it's this quick

Everything happens on your own computer. There's no upload to wait for, and no size limit beyond what your machine can hold. That's also why there's no account to make and no daily cap. If you want to check it yourself, open your browser's network panel while you work and look for your file being sent. You won't find it, because nothing here sends it. The privacy page explains the rest.