Add page numbers to a PDF

What Add Page Numbers does, and when you need it

Add Page Numbers writes a number on the pages of a PDF and saves the PDF with them. You pick the corner, the style (1, Page 1, Page 1 of 9 or 1/9), the first number and which pages get one. Every page's card shows its number in place before you save, so there are no surprises. It all happens inside your browser, with nothing uploaded, no sign-up and no watermark.

Numbered pages are easier to talk about, check and put back in order. People add page numbers to:

• Projects, theses and assignments. Colleges often ask for numbered pages, and a PDF made from several files rarely has them.
• Legal papers. Agreements, affidavits and sets of documents for a lawyer or a court office, where everyone needs to say "see page 14".
• Applications. A bundle of certificates, marksheets and ID copies for a job, visa or admission, so the person checking it can see nothing is missing.
• Office reports and minutes, before they are printed or shared in a meeting.
• Scans. A stack of scanned pages has no numbers of its own, and pages dropped on the floor are easy to put back with them.

Step by step: numbering pages on this page

1. Add your PDF. Press Choose PDF files and pick one or several, drop PDFs anywhere on this page, or paste one you copied. To try it first, press Try with a sample PDF: it makes a 6-page project report with a cover and a landscape table.
2. Pick the place. Under Position, choose one of six places: the left, centre or right of the top or the bottom of the page. Bottom centre is chosen at first.
3. Pick the style. 1, Page 1, Page 1 of 9 or 1/9. The "9" is the last number shown, worked out for you.
4. Choose the pages. All pages, All but the first (for a cover), or Only some, where you type pages like 3-12. Change First number if the numbers should start from something other than 1.
5. Set the size and the distance from the edge, if the usual Medium and Normal don't suit your pages.
6. Check the cards. Each page's card shows a yellow patch where its number goes, and says under it what the number will be, like Shows "Page 2 of 9", or No number.
7. Save and download. Press Add page numbers. A row appears under the tool with the new file's name, like report-numbered.pdf, the pages numbered, the size before and after, the time taken and "nothing uploaded". Press Download.

If you change an option after saving, the result goes away and the button comes back, so the file you download always matches the cards. With a keyboard, Tab moves through the options and the arrow keys change a choice.

Where the numbers go

There are six places: top left, top centre, top right, bottom left, bottom centre and bottom right. Each is measured from the edge of the page as a reader sees it, so a number set to bottom right sits in the bottom right corner on every page, whatever the page's size.

• Bottom centre is the most common choice for reports, theses and books, and it works for pages read on screen or printed on one side.
• Bottom right is easy to find when flipping through printed pages, and suits legal papers and bundles of documents.
• Top right is handy when the bottom of the pages is already busy, such as forms with a footer or bank statements with small print at the bottom.
• Left places suit pages that will be bound or stapled on the right, which is rare, so most people use the centre or the right.

Before saving, look at the cards: the yellow patch shows exactly where each number goes, so you can see if it would land on something already printed there, like a logo or a footer. If it would, pick another place or move it further from the edge.

The four styles

Here is what page 3 of a 12-page PDF says in each style, with every page numbered from 1:

In Page 1 of 9 and 1/9, the second number is the last number shown, not simply the number of pages in the file. Skip a cover in a 12-page PDF and number the rest from 1, and the pages say Page 1 of 11 to Page 11 of 11. That way the count always matches what readers see.

Numbers are written in Helvetica, a plain font every PDF reader has, in black. The words "Page" and "of" are in English.

Skipping a cover and starting from any number

Three options work together: which pages get a number, and the number on the first of them.

• All but the first leaves the first page bare, for a cover or a title page. With First number at 1, the second page says 1. To count the cover, so the second page says 2, set First number to 2.
• Only some numbers just the pages you type, like 3-12, or 2-5, 8-, where 8- means page 8 to the end. The pages are numbered in order, one after another, starting from First number. Use it to skip a cover and a contents page, or to leave out the attachments at the end.
• First number can be any whole number from 0 to 99999. Use it when a PDF continues another one: if part 1 ended on page 40, start part 2 at 41.

The cards are the easiest check: each says what its page will show. The line above the cards sums it up, like "5 pages get the numbers 1 to 5." If a typed list names a page the PDF doesn't have, the box says so, and nothing is saved until it is fixed.

For a document with a long introduction numbered i, ii, iii and the main part numbered 1, 2, 3, split it with Split PDF, number the main part here, and join the parts again with Merge PDF. Roman numerals themselves aren't one of the styles.

Size and distance from the edge

Size sets how tall the numbers are, in points, the unit for type: 72 points make an inch, about 2.5 cm.

• Small, 9 points, for pages with small print, or when the number should stay out of the way.
• Medium, 11 points, about the size of the body text in most documents. This is the usual choice.
• Large, 14 points, for slides, posters and papers that will be read from a distance.

Distance from the edge sets how far the number sits from the page's edges: Near is 0.6 cm (a quarter of an inch), Normal is 1.3 cm (half an inch) and Far is 1.9 cm (three quarters of an inch). At the bottom it is measured to the foot of the numbers; at the top, to their top. Near fits more on a crowded page, but some printers can't print that close to the edge of the paper, so choose Normal or Far for pages that will be printed.

Turned pages, landscape pages and scans

A PDF page can carry a setting that turns it when it is shown, often written by a scanner or by a tool like Rotate PDF. A page can also show only part of itself, when it has been cropped. Add Page Numbers places each number on the page as readers see it, after the turn and the crop, so bottom right is the bottom right corner a reader sees, on every page.

We checked this with a 4-page scan whose pages are turned a quarter, a half and three quarters of a turn, with the first page cropped. Every number landed in the corner we chose, the right way up. Landscape pages, wider than they are tall, get their number at the bottom of the wide page too: the sample's table page shows it.

If some pages of your PDF are sideways because they were scanned that way, turn them upright with Rotate PDF first, then number them. Otherwise the numbers will be upright while the page's contents are not.

What stays the same in your PDF

The numbers are drawn on top of each page. Nothing already on the page is redrawn, moved or compressed again, and every page stays in its place:

• Text stays text, so it can still be searched, selected and copied. The numbers are text too.
• Pictures and scans keep every pixel.
• Links to other pages and to websites still work.
• Bookmarks, the outline in a reader's side panel, still lead to the right pages.
• Forms keep their fields and anything already filled in.
• Screen readers skip the added numbers, which are marked as page decoration, not part of the text to read aloud.
• The size barely changes. The numbers use a font every reader already has, so no font is added to the file.

A PDF locked with a password to open can't be used until it is unlocked. One that only restricts editing is numbered anyway, and the new PDF opens without those restrictions; the result says so. A digitally signed PDF can be numbered, but the changed copy no longer carries a valid signature, and the result says that too.

Real results from our tests

We numbered these PDFs in Chromium 141, the open-source browser Google Chrome is built on, on a Linux computer with 4 processor cores and 16 GB of memory. Times are what the page reported, from pressing the button to the finished file. Your device may be faster or slower.

• 0.1 sto number the 6-page sample report
• 1.0 sto number all 117 pages of a textbook
• 5.5 sto number every page of a 400-page, 455 MB scan
• 0 bytessent to any server

Some files come out a little smaller than they went in, even with numbers added, because the new file packs its small internal parts more tightly. We drew every page of each result with pdfium, the PDF engine inside Chrome, and compared it with the original page: on each numbered page, the only change was the number, in the corner we chose, and the pages left without a number were unchanged. Poppler, a different PDF reader, found every added number in the text of its page, and every word of the original pages too. The textbook kept all 35 of its bookmarks and 509 links, and the form kept all 8 filled-in answers.

Times are the middle of three or more runs, except for the 400-page scan, numbered once. The same 400 pages took 20.3 seconds in a run while the computer was busy with other work, so a slower or busier device takes longer. Numbering the textbook took the browser about 72 MB more memory than when idle, the 42-page scan about 290 MB and the 400-page scan about 2.0 GB, because the file and the new PDF are both held in memory while it is made.

Numbering a PDF made from several files

Applications, project files and legal bundles are often put together from many PDFs: a cover letter, a form, certificates, scans. Number them after joining them, so the numbers run through the whole document:

1. Join the files with Merge PDF, in the order they should be read.
2. Put the pages in order with Organize PDF if anything needs moving, turning or deleting.
3. Number the pages here, with Page 1 of 9 if the reader should be able to tell that nothing is missing.
4. Shrink last. If a portal wants the file under a size, like 200 KB or 2 MB, put the numbered PDF through Resize PDF at the end, so the limit is checked on the very file you upload.

Numbering last matters: numbers added before merging start again at 1 in each part, and pages moved after numbering end up out of order.

Page labels, and the numbers printed on the page

PDF readers show a page number of their own in their toolbar, like "3 / 12". That is the page's place in the file, and it isn't printed on the page. Some PDFs also carry page labels, custom numbers like i, ii and iii for an introduction, which the reader's toolbar shows instead.

Add Page Numbers prints the number on the page itself, where it shows on screen, on paper and in a screenshot. It doesn't change the reader's own numbers or the page labels. If you skip a cover, the reader's toolbar will still call the second page "2" while the page says 1. Most people never notice, but if it matters, set First number to 2 so both agree.

Numbering several PDFs at once

Add as many PDFs as you like, all at once or a few at a time with Add more PDFs. Each file gets its own heading with a coloured dot, and its pages follow it. Every file gets the same options, and each is numbered on its own, starting from First number. To take a file out, press the X on its heading.

The button says how many PDFs will be saved, as in Add page numbers to 3 PDFs. One PDF downloads on its own; several come in one ZIP file, numbered-pdfs.zip, with a PDF for each, named after its original, like scan-numbered.pdf. With Only some, a file that has none of the typed pages is left out.

To number several files as one run, 1 to 40 across all of them, join them first with Merge PDF.

Private: your files stay on your device

The documents people number are often private: legal papers, applications with ID copies, medical reports, company reports. With NoUploadPDF they never leave your phone or computer. Your browser opens the PDF, and pdf.js draws the small pictures of its pages. Then our pages engine, written in Rust and compiled to WebAssembly, adds the numbers in a background worker on your device, so the page stays responsive while it works.

The page can't send your files to another site, even by mistake. Its Content Security Policy, a rule the website gives your browser, tells the browser to block the page from sending data to any other site. There is no account to create and nothing to sign in to. If you like, you can check in your browser's network panel that nothing is uploaded.

Compared with tools that upload your files

Many online PDF tools upload your files to their servers, add the numbers there and send the result back. Here is how that compares with working on your own device:

Many upload-based tools are well made, and some promise to delete your files after a while. A file that is never uploaded needs no such promise.

Use it on Android, iPhone, Windows and Mac

There is nothing to install: Add Page Numbers runs in an up-to-date browser on phones, tablets and computers.

• Android

  Open this page in Chrome or another up-to-date browser and tap Choose PDF files. Pick the options, scroll down to check the cards, then tap Add page numbers. The new PDF is saved to your Downloads folder.

• iPhone and iPad

  Use Safari. Tap Choose PDF files and pick a PDF from the Files app. Set the options, then save. The new PDF usually goes to Downloads in the Files app.

• Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook

  Click Choose PDF files, or drag PDFs from a folder and drop them anywhere on the page. The options sit side by side above the cards. The new PDF goes to your Downloads folder.

On a phone, the options come first and the cards follow, two to a row. The button stays in view at the bottom of the screen, so you can save from anywhere on the page.

Problems and quick fixes

• The button can't be pressed. Check the boxes in the options: First number must be a whole number, and with Only some, the pages must be typed, like 3-12. A box with a problem says what is wrong in red.
• A number lands on something already printed. Pick another place, like top right, or move it with Distance from the edge. The yellow patch on each card shows where it goes.
• The numbers are too small to read on the cards. That is expected: the cards are small pictures. The line under each card says what its number will be, and the saved PDF shows it at full size.
• The second page says 1, and I wanted 2. With All but the first, set First number to 2, so the cover is counted.
• A file says "Locked with a password". It needs a password to open, so it can't be used here. Unlock it first, then add the unlocked copy.
• The numbers came out sideways on some pages. Those pages' contents were sideways to begin with. Turn them upright with Rotate PDF, then number them again from the original.
• "These files are too big to handle in this browser's memory." Number fewer files at a time, or use a computer, which usually has more memory than a phone.

Limits

• Latin letters and digits. Numbers are drawn in Helvetica, a standard PDF font, which has Latin letters, digits and common punctuation. The words "Page" and "of" are in English, and other scripts, like Devanagari, aren't available.
• One font, in black. There is no choice of font or colour for the numbers.
• No Roman numerals or letters. Numbers are 0, 1, 2 and up, not i, ii, iii or A, B, C.
• On top of the page. A number is drawn over whatever is in that place. It doesn't move the page's contents to make room.
• Added for good. Numbers can't be taken out again here. Keep your original, which is never changed, in case you want to number it differently later.
• Locked and signed files. A PDF that needs a password to open can't be used until you unlock it, and a digital signature isn't valid on the changed copy.
• Memory. We set no size or page limit, but the file has to fit in your device's memory. Phones have less than computers, so very big files are easier on a computer.

Page numbering terms, explained

Header and footer

The strips at the top and bottom of a page, outside the main text, where page numbers, titles and dates usually go.

Point

The unit for the size of type and for distances on a PDF page: 72 points make an inch, or 2.54 cm.

Margin

The empty space between the edge of the page and its contents. Page numbers usually sit inside it.

Page labels

Custom page numbers stored in a PDF, like i, ii and iii for an introduction, which readers show in their toolbar. They aren't printed on the page.

Bates numbering

A numbering style used for legal documents, with a prefix and a fixed number of digits, like ABC000123. It isn't one of the styles here.

Helvetica

A plain font that is one of the standard fonts every PDF reader has, so a PDF can use it without carrying a copy.