Add Page Numbers to PDF — Free Online
The document is opened and edited in this tab. It stays local — a contract or a scan is never uploaded to be processed.
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How it works
A number is drawn, not inserted
PDF has no concept of a page number that updates itself. What a word processor calls a field becomes, on export, a literal string drawn at a fixed position on each page. This does the same thing directly: for every page it appends a short run of text operators to the content stream, positioning an embedded Helvetica string inside the page's margin using the page box's own dimensions, so the number lands consistently whether the pages are A4, Letter or a mixture. The existing content is not modified, so a number can be added to a document that already has real text without disturbing a line of it.
- Format
- Just the digit, Page 3, or 3 of 24 with the total filled in from the document's page count at the moment you generate it.
- Position
- Six placements — bottom or top, left, centre or right — inset from the page box by a margin in points.
- Starting number
- The counter can start anywhere, so a section beginning at 47 numbers correctly without the pages before it existing.
- Range
- Skip the cover, or number only part of the document. Pages outside the range are written out unchanged.
- Font
- Helvetica at a size you set in points, embedded as a standard font so no extra font program is added to the file.
How to use it
How to add page numbers to a PDF online
- 01
Open the PDF
Page count and page sizes are read locally; nothing is sent anywhere.
- 02
Choose format, position and start
The preview draws the numbers on real pages so you can see them clear the existing margins.
- 03
Save the numbered PDF
Only the added text is new. Your original file is untouched on disk.
Where it earns its keep
Where PDF page numbering is required
- Paginating a court or tribunal bundle that has to be cited page by page.
- Numbering a document merged from several sources whose own numbering restarts.
- Adding numbers to a scan so a reviewer can point at a specific page in an email.
- Preparing a printed handout that will be discussed out of order.
Questions
Add Page Numbers to PDF, answered
Will the numbers update if I add pages later?
No. They are drawn text, not a field — PDF has no self-updating page number. Add or remove pages and the numbering is wrong, so number the document last, after the pages are final.
Can it remove or replace numbers that are already printed?
No. Existing numbers are part of the page's content stream and indistinguishable from any other text. Adding new ones to a document that has some gives you two sets — choose a different position, or number a version that has none.
Will the number overlap the existing text?
It can, on a page whose content runs to the very edge. The margin is adjustable and the preview shows the real result, so check a dense page before saving rather than after sending.
Is the file uploaded to be numbered?
No. pdf-lib appends the text and writes the new document in this browser tab, so a bundle of client documents never leaves your device to gain a footer.