How to Add Page Numbers to a PDF for Free

How to number a PDF

1. Open Add page numbers to PDF and drop the document in
2. Choose the position: top or bottom, left, centre or right
3. Choose the format: "7", "7 / 33" or "- 7 -"
4. Choose which pages to number and the number to start from
5. Download the PDF

Start numbering after the cover page

Most documents should not show a number on their cover. Number pages 2 to the end — type 2- in the pages box — and set the starting number to 1. The cover stays clean and the first page of the content reads 1. In the "7 / 33" format, the total counts only the pages you numbered, so it matches what is printed.

The same two settings handle a document with a table of contents, or a chapter that continues the numbering of the one before it: number the pages you need, and start from whatever number they should carry.

The numbers are real text

Page numbers are written into the PDF as text, not stamped on as pictures. They stay sharp at any zoom, can be selected and copied, and add only a few bytes per page. They use one of the fonts every PDF reader has built in, so nothing needs to be embedded and they look the same everywhere.

That built-in font is also why the formats are numeric: digits, a slash and a dash render in every reader, in every language, without adding a font to your file.

Sideways pages are handled

A scanned page or a landscape table is often stored sideways with a rotation applied. Numbering tools that ignore the rotation put "bottom centre" running up the side of the page. Here every page is measured the way it is displayed, so the number lands where you asked on every page, upright.

Nothing else in the document changes

The PDF is edited in place and saved back: bookmarks, internal links and fillable form fields all survive, and no page is re-compressed. Two things to keep in mind:

• Existing page numbers are not removed. A document that already has numbers will end up with two sets — number a copy without them, or put the new numbers in a different corner
• Numbers sit on top of the page. On a page with no bottom margin, a bottom number can land on text; choose a top position for those documents

Why it matters that the file is not uploaded

Documents that need page numbers are often the ones you would least like to hand to a website: contracts, reports, theses, applications. Most online PDF tools upload the file to their server. This one runs in your browser — check by numbering one file, turning off your Wi-Fi, and numbering another.