Why would I start at a number other than 1?
When this file continues another one: an appendix that follows a 40-page report starts at 41, so the pack reads straight through. The first page stamped gets the number you type; the rest follow on.
PDF tools · pages
Add page numbers
Put page numbers on a finished PDF: pick where they sit, how they read, and the number to start from. The numbers are drawn onto the pages themselves, in your browser; the document is never uploaded.
For a report, a contract pack or a court bundle that people must refer to by page ('see page 14'), which came off the printer with no numbers on it.
- 01
Pick the PDF
- 02
Choose the numbers
- 03
Number and download
Drop a PDF on the tray, or click to pick one
PDF · it stays on this device
Where they sit
How they read
Which pages
File spec
- file
- none picked yet
The numbers become part of the pages, like ink: they cannot be switched off afterwards. Keep your unnumbered original, and number a copy.
Pick a PDF to begin.
How it works
The page writes each number straight onto its page as ordinary page content, at the place you picked, then saves the file. The download is how we protect your privacy: the program that does this job is part of this page, loaded from this site, and your file is read into the page and never uploaded. Because the numbers are drawn in, they print with the file everywhere and cannot fall off; they are not form fields, and they do not change when the file is copied.
Honest limits
Drawn-in numbers are part of the page now: taking them off later means editing the pages, so keep your unnumbered original. The numbers count the file's pages as they stand when you run this; if you merge or cut pages afterwards, run it again on the finished file so the numbers still match the pages.
A password-protected PDF cannot be opened by this tool. Take its password off first with the unlock tool, then bring the file back.
Questions
In "Page X of Y", what is Y?
The last number stamped, counting only the pages you numbered. Number a whole 12-page file from 1 and the pages read "Page 1 of 12" to "Page 12 of 12". Number only pages 5 to 12 of it, starting at 5, and they read "Page 5 of 12" to "Page 12 of 12".
Can the numbers be taken off later?
Not by a switch: they are drawn onto the pages, the same way flattening bakes in a form's answers. Editing them off means editing the pages themselves. Keep your unnumbered original, and number a copy.
Where does my document go?
Nowhere. It is read into this page and numbered in your browser. Watch the network panel while it works if you want to check.