Edit PDF text on a Mac
Changing the words already inside a PDF — what Preview can and cannot do, and where you need a dedicated editor.
How-to guides
Doing things with PDFs, without uploading them anywhere
Every guide here does the job on your own device. Written by Prakrin Kumar, who builds the apps. Where a built-in tool already does what you need — Markup on iPhone, Preview on the Mac — the guide says so before mentioning ours.
On a Mac
Make a scanned PDF searchable (OCR)
Turning a photographed or scanned page into text you can search, select and copy.
On iPhone and iPad
Edit a PDF on iPhone or iPad
Where the Files app and Markup stop, and how to change the text inside the document itself.
Sign a PDF on iPhone or iPad
Adding a real signature to a document from your phone.
Scan paper documents to PDF
Using the camera to produce a clean, straightened PDF — and what the built-in Notes scanner does and doesn't give you.
Compress a PDF on iPhone
Getting a file under an email attachment limit without turning the text into a blurry image.
On Android
Edit a PDF on Android
Editing the text and images inside a PDF on a phone, offline and free.
Sign a PDF on Android
Adding a handwritten or typed signature, and whether it is legally valid.
Merge PDFs on Android
Combining several documents into one file in the right order.
Compress a PDF on Android
Shrinking a file so it will actually send.
Convert a PDF to Word on Android
Turning a PDF into an editable document, and where conversion realistically breaks down.
Save a status video
Keeping a status video that was shared with you before it expires.
Save status photos
The same thing for photos, including the file-manager method that needs no app at all.
Choosing between tools
If you would rather compare options than follow a recipe, the offline PDF editor comparison covers which editors process files on your own machine, and the status-saver comparison covers picking an app that will not lose or leak your photos.