How to Edit a PDF on a Mac (Preview and Other Options)

Every Mac includes Preview, an app that opens PDFs and images and includes a surprising number of editing tools. For marking up, signing, filling in forms and rearranging pages, you do not need to install anything. What Preview does not do is change text that is already on the page. This guide shows what you can do, step by step, where the limits are, and what to use when you hit them.

The quick answer

• Open the PDF in Preview (double-click it, or choose Open with, then Preview).
• Show the markup toolbar, using the pen-tip icon in the toolbar.
• Use it to add text, shapes, highlights, notes and a signature.
• Use the thumbnail sidebar to rotate, reorder, delete and add pages.
• Save, or use Export to save a new copy and keep the original.

Menu names and icons change a little between versions of macOS, so if something looks different, look in the Tools menu and the toolbar for the same tool.

Step by step: mark up and fill in

Add text to a page

1. Open the PDF in Preview and show the markup toolbar.
2. Choose the text tool and click where the text should go.
3. Type, then drag the box into position.
4. Change the font, size and colour from the toolbar.
5. Zoom in and align the text with the line it belongs on.

This works well for completing flat forms, where there are no fields to type into. Match the size to the printed text, and keep each entry slightly above its line.

Highlight and annotate

Select text with the cursor and use the highlight tool, or use underline and strikethrough. Add a note for comments. If you are reviewing a document for someone else, use a small set of colours with a clear meaning, as described in our guide to annotating a PDF.

Sign the document

Choose the signature tool, then create a signature with the trackpad, with the camera by holding a signed piece of paper up to it, or with an iPhone or iPad. Place it on the signature line, resize it, and check it at full zoom. A signature placed this way is an electronic signature, which is accepted for many ordinary documents. See digital vs electronic signatures for what that does and does not mean.

Work on pages: rotate, delete, reorder, combine

For a handful of pages this is very quick. For dozens of files, the drag-and-drop method becomes tedious, and a tool built for the job is faster. See how to merge PDF files and how to rotate and reorder pages for those workflows.

The limits, and what to do about them

You need to change existing text

Preview cannot edit text that is already on the page. You have three routes: edit the line in a PDF editor that supports it, convert the PDF to a Word or Pages document and edit there, or edit the original source file and export a new PDF. For a single word or number, the first is quickest.

You have a scanned document

A scan is a picture. You can add text on top in Preview, but you cannot edit the scanned text. To make it editable, run text recognition first and proofread the result.

You need to shrink a large file

Preview offers a way to reduce file size when exporting, but you cannot choose the level, and quality can fall sharply. If the result looks poor, use a compression tool where you can pick a level and compare, as in how to compress a PDF without losing quality.

A worked example: completing a rental form

You receive a two-page rental application as a PDF with printed blanks and no fields. In Preview you add text boxes for your name, address and dates, matching the size of the printed labels. You tick the checkboxes with a text box containing an X, then add your signature on the last page and the date beside it. You scroll through both pages at 200 percent zoom, correct one entry that sat too low, and export the file as Application-completed.pdf. Because the form contains personal information, you add a password before emailing it, following how to password protect a PDF.

Quality checks before you send

• Zoom to 200 percent and look for misaligned or overlapping text.
• Make sure signatures and initials are on every page that needs them.
• Check that no highlights or notes remain that you did not mean to send.
• Check the file size, and compress it if it is too large for email.
• Save under a new name and keep the original.

When to use something other than Preview

• You must edit existing text: use a PDF editor or a conversion route.
• You are on a shared or work Mac and prefer not to save files locally: an online tool that deletes uploads automatically may suit you.
• You need to process many files: use a tool built for batches.
• The document is a scan that must be searchable: run OCR.
• The document is highly sensitive: prefer tools that keep files on your own computer.

For the bigger picture of tool types, read what a PDF editor is and how to choose the best PDF editor. For an online route that works from any computer, see how to edit a PDF online.

Habits that make Preview safer to use

• Duplicate the file first (File, then Duplicate) so that you always have the untouched original.
• Use Export instead of Save when you want a separate finished copy, and choose a clear name such as Form-completed.pdf.
• Zoom to 200 percent before judging text placement; what looks aligned at fit-to-window may be off.
• Keep your saved signature private. Anyone with access to your account can use it.
• Review the whole document before you send it, not only the pages you changed.

Editing existing text on a Mac: the three routes

If you have the original document, always use the third route; nothing has to be reconstructed. If not, pick the first for small fixes and the second for big rewrites. Our guide to editing a PDF in Word explains the second route in detail.

Creating a PDF on a Mac

Preview is for changing PDFs. To make one, every Mac app that can print can also save a PDF: choose Print, then use the PDF menu at the bottom-left of the print dialog and select Save as PDF. This works for web pages, documents, emails and spreadsheets, and it is the simplest way to produce a PDF from something that is not one yet. Check the result before you share it, because pagination can differ from what you saw on screen.

• Use it to turn a web page or an email into a PDF for your records.
• Choose the paper size in the print dialog before saving, since it decides the page shape.
• For long web pages, look at the preview to see where pages break.
• If the file is large, compress it afterwards with a tool that lets you pick the level.

A short checklist

1. Open the PDF in Preview and show the markup toolbar.
2. Use text boxes, highlights, shapes and the signature tool.
3. Use the thumbnail sidebar for page changes.
4. Export a new copy and keep the original.
5. Use an editor, Word or the source file when you need to change existing text.