8 Best Free PDF Editors [Updated List]

Finding a truly free PDF editor isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time to find something that’s free and works as excellent as a paid product. We know you’re looking for free PDF editors and that’s what we’ll provide you in this article. Let’s roll…

PDF’s are one of the most important files you can have on your computer, they are used everywhere. If you’re working professional or a student you will need them frequently for various reasons. Most of the time there’s no need to edit these PDF files, you just share them and you’re good. But what if you need to edit them?

Editing PDF is a pain, and if you don’t have a software like Adobe Reader already, you’re in for a bit of trouble. Thankfully, there are some online PDF editors which make the work easier. With these online PDF editors, all you need to do is to upload the document, edit them & save it back to your computer.

But… Like other things in life finding the right things online can be a cause for headaches. You may search for hours yet not find a good working tool. To save you from the trouble, here are some of the best free PDF Editors…

Best PDF Editors You Can Use To Edit PDF Files

Best Free PDF Editors

PDF Buddy

Website: PDF Buddy

PDF Buddy is a highly popular free PDF editor which comes with various features and options. It is one of the only options which can either be used online or installed on your Windows PC. But no matter which version of this free PDF editor you use, it offers a great user experience. The whole layout and design of this website are quite simple and easy to use. Its user interface offers all of the options and features right in one place.

Due to this, even if you are using a free PDF editor for the first time, this one can be a great option. And all of the various options and features present on this website can be quite handy while editing PDF files. You can either use the offline tool for Windows or upload your PDF files to the online website. Both of these methods offer very similar options and features for editing PDF files.

Pros:

  • Easily upload and edit files online
  • Easy to use and straight forward user interface
  • Sign up process is quick and simple
  • Completely free to use

Cons:

  • Cannot merge PDF files
  • File security could have been better

Form Swift

Website: Form Swift

Form Swift is a great online-based free PDF editor which can be a great choice for a lot of users. It allows you to upload PDF files directly from your computer. And after that, you can also edit the PDF files without any issues. Apart from being a free PDF editor, this app can also be used for editing Word Doc images as well as Images. You have to simply select files from your computer’s storage and upload them for editing. The easy and simple user interface of this website allows you to easily edit PDF files.

While it does not have any advanced options and features, it is more than enough for quickly editing PDF files online. And the best part about this website is that it is completely free to use. You do not even get any ads while using this website which results in a great overall experience while using this website for editing PDF files. Once you have edited a PDF file, you can either save it on your computer or share it via different multiple methods. You can either send edited PDF files to social media websites or email it to someone else without any issues.

Pros:

  • Simple and straight forward process
  • Online based application
  • Free to sign up and use
  • Does not show any ads

Cons:

  • Lacks advanced features
  • Sign up process is long

PDF Element

Website: PDF Element

PDF Element is a highly advanced free PDF editor available out there. It is one of the only options which offers OCR technology. This feature allows you to read and edit text present in image-based PDF files. You get various other advanced features as well which can be quite useful in various cases. And you can access all of these quite easily in this free PDF editor due to its user interface. It offers all of its browsing and navigation features right on the home screen for easy access.

Another great thing about this free PDF editor is that it is available on multiple platforms. You can download and install PDF Element on Windows as well as macOS without any issues. It also offers a trial version of the paid version of PDF Element which can be quite handy. This trial version can be used to check the various additional features and options offered by the paid version.

Pros:

  • Offers OCR technology
  • Simple and user-friendly design
  • Comes with a free as well as a paid version
  • Paid version offers great value for money

Cons:

  • Free version has limited features
  • No online version

Sejda

Website: Sejda

Sejda is a free PDF editor that runs in your computer’s browser using your internet connection. And even though it is an online-based application, it features a lot of advanced features. All of these features can be quite useful while editing PDF files. Unfortunately, this free PDF editor website has an average user interface. This makes editing PDF files a bit difficult for some users. If you are new to using such free PDF editor apps on your computer, then you might take some time getting used to it.

But Sejda is one of the most powerful tools out there which can be used for editing PDF files. You can use Sejda for a lot of things other than just editing PDF files. It can also be used for creating as well as editing existing PDF forms. You can also change and modify the contents stored in a PDF file using Sejda without any issues. And you get all of this for completely free without seeing any ads while using this website for editing PDF files.

Pros:

  • Completely free to use
  • No limits and restrictions
  • Sign PDF files
  • Create and edit PDF forms
  • Various advanced PDF editing features.

Cons:

  • Does not offer OCR support
  • Poor user interface

Inkscape

Website: Inkscape

Inkscape is primarily a graphic design software that comes with multiple options and features. But as this software supports multiple file-formats including PDF, it can also be used as a free PDF editor. This tool is free and open-source which means there are no ads or hidden charges. Even though you get a wide range of advanced options and features in this software, it is quite easy to use. The user interface of this free PDF editor is great even for new users. You also get vector graphics support with Inkscape which can be quite useful for a lot of applications.

And even though all of the tools and features offered by this app are made for images, you can also use them for editing PDF files. It even supports text editing which is quite important for editing and manipulating PDF files on your computer. You can easily install the Inkscape application on your computer without any issues. This tool is supported on most of the major platforms including Windows, macOS, and Linux. Unfortunately, there is no online version of Inkscape which might be an issue for some users out there.

Pros:

  • Free and open source
  • Multiple file formats supported
  • Includes a tutorial library
  • Supports vector graphics

Cons:

  • Not good for multiple-page PDF files
  • Resource Heavy

PDF-XChange

Website: PDF-Xchange

PDF Xchange is a great free PDF editor application available out there. It is one of the most advanced options when you consider all of the various tools and options offered by it. And as you would expect, all of these things can be quite useful while editing PDF files on your computer. You can use this tool to view, edit, comment, and annotate PDF files without any issues. This free PDF editor also offers an OCR feature inbuilt which is even much more handy.

It allows you to convert non-text-based PDF files into text PDF files for easy edits. And you can also sign PDF files using PDF XChange Editor. The best part about this software is that all of these features and options are quite easy to use. This is possible due to the simple and straight forward user interface offered by this tool. Even though this app is not available for online use, new users can easily use it for editing PDF files on their computers.

Pros:

  • Offers a paid as well as free version
  • Allows you to edit, comment, and annotate PDF files
  • Multiple drawing tools
  • Easily save and share edited PDF files
  • Inbuilt spell checker

Cons:

  • The paid version is expensive
  • No online version

PDF Escape

Website: PDF Escape

Unlike any other free PDF editor mentioned in this article, this one is available for online use as well as for offline use. PDF Escape can be downloaded and installed on your Windows computer without any issues. It supports various Windows versions including older versions as well as the PDF ones. And you get a free version as well as a paid version of this free PDF editor.

But you get most of the features and options in the free version due to which you do not have to pay for it. Even if you are using the free version of this app, it does not show any ads to the user. You can simply choose any PDF file from your computer and start editing it. Once you have opened a PDF file in PDF Escape, it can be edited quite easily on your computer.

Pros:

  • Free to download and use
  • The paid version offers great value for money
  • Compatible with various versions of Windows
  • Easy and simple user interface

Cons:

  • No advanced editing features and options
  • Lacks OCR feature

Able Word

Website: Able Word

Able Word is one of the latest and brand new free PDF editor apps out there. And thus, you can expect various latest features and options from this app. As a result, it offers a great overall experience while using Able Word for editing PDF files on your computer. Just like its name, Able Word offers various features found in Microsoft Word. Due to this, it can also be used as a word processing software while editing PDF files. Thus, if you have a lot of text work in your PDF files, then Able Word can be a great option for a lot of users. It can also be used to reformat images, toggle headers and footers, insert tables, and various other options. All of these options can be useful in a free PDF editor as well as in a word processor. Another great thing about this software is that it includes a spell check option so that you do not have any issues while editing text. And you get all of these features and options with a very modern and sleek looking user interface. This makes using the Able Word app quite easy and straight forward.

Pros:

  • Completely free to use
  • Simple and straight forward user interface
  • Offers Microsoft Word features and options
  • Various PDF editing options and features

Cons:

  • No online version
  • PDF output could have been better

Final Thoughts…

Most of the PDF Editors listed here are free, however, some of them are freemium i.e, to get full access you need to pay a small amount. Also, when you upload any kind of file online it will be exposed to the internet. You won’t want that to happen. Right?

Don’t fret, most of the sites we have listed are having great security but there’s a small chance of having bad luck. So, only upload those files to the internet which don’t contain sensitive information.

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