How to combine PDF files without Acrobat can be done on any computer using a free online PDF merger called PDF Joiner. It can be even by using a free app called PDF Creator on Windows. We can even use the built-in Preview program on Mac.
Let’s try to understand each process in a step wise manner:-
- Thru Online Websites
- Using Windows
- Using Mac
- Using Adobe Acrobat DC
How to combine PDF files : Thru Online Websites
Go to http://pdfjoiner.com/ in a web browser. PDF Joiner is a free online tool that permits to merge multiple PDFs into a single file.
Click UPLOAD FILES. A teal button in the middle of the page opens a File Explorer window in Windows or a Finder window on Mac. Click any sub folders the PDF may be saved to.
Go to your PDFs’ location. Click the folder in which PDFs are stored on the left side of the window.
Select PDF files. Select multiple files by pressing and holding Ctrl on Windows or Command on Mac. Tap the PDF files which you want to combine and combine up to 20 PDF files in one single go with PDF Joiner.
Click Open. Placed at the bottom-right corner of the window,it prompts PDF files to begin uploading to PDF Joiner. Check thumbnail images of the PDFs to be uploaded in the center of the page. Tap the teal button with Upload Files to upload additional PDFs.
Wait for the files to finish uploading. Take a few minutes depending on how many files are being uploaded.
Click and drag PDFs to change order. If the order upload the PDFs is not the same order to be merged, click and drag the PDF thumbnail images to the left and right to rearrange the order of the PDFs.
Click JOIN FILES. While files are done uploading, option will become available below the list of uploaded files. Tapping JOIN FILES prompts combined PDF to download onto the computer as a single PDF. It is able to find downloaded files in Downloads folder by default.
How to combine PDF files : Using Windows
Download PDF Merger & Splitter. PDF Merger & Splitter is a free app that permits to merge PDFs and extract pages from a PDF. Download PDF Merger & Splitter for free from the Microsoft Store. Use the following steps to download PDF Merger & Splitter:
- Tap the Windows Start menu.
- Press the Microsoft Store icon resembling a white shopping bag.
- Tap Search in the upper-right corner.
- Type “PDF Merger & Splitter” in the search bar.
- Press PDF Merger & Splitter.
- Tap GET.
Open PDF Merger & Splitter. PDF Merger & Splitter is an icon resembling a page helps to find in the Windows Start menu, or click Launch in the Microsoft Store after it finishes downloading.
Click Merge PDF. The first purple button in the center of the page helps to merge PDF.
Click Add PDFs. The first option in the upper-left corner opens File Explorer and permits to browse for PDFs.
Navigate to the location of the PDFs to merge. Use File Explorer to navigate to the location of the PDFs to merge by double-clicking the folder the PDFs are located in to navigate to the folder.
Select the PDFs and click Open. Select more than one file at a time by holding the Ctrl button and click the files to open.
- Tap Open in the lower right corner.
- Click Add PDFs again to upload additional PDF files.
- Click the PDF file you want to move in the list, and click Move Up or Move Down above the list to change the order of the PDFs.
- Tap the PDF to remove and click Remove above the list to remove a PDF.
Click Merge PDFs. Placed in the lower-right corner displays a Save prompt to save the merged PDFs.
Type a name for the merged PDF. Use the field next to “Filename” to type a name for the merged PDF to select a location to save the file to.
Click Save. It saves PDFs as a single merged PDF.
How to combine PDF files : Using Mac
Open Finder. Blue and white icon with a smiley face in Mac’s Dock at the bottom of the screen can be used in the Finder to browse files and folders on Mac.
Go to PDF files’ location. Click the folder in which PDF files are saved on the left side of the Finder window.
Open the first PDF to merge in Preview. Mac comes with an application that can be used to merge and split PDFs. Use Preview app for the purpose. Following steps must be followed to open a PDF in Preview:-
- Right-click a PDF file.
- Hover over Open with…
- Click Preview.
Click View. Placed in the menu bar at the top of Mac’s screen for a drop-down menu to appear.
Click Thumbnails. Available in the View drop-down menu, it can be seen as a window pop out of the left side of the Preview window containing a thumbnail image of each page of the PDF.
Click and drag PDF into the list of thumbnails. To add another PDF to the PDF in Preview, click the PDF in the Finder window and drag it to the thumbnail list to the left in Preview. Drop the PDF to go in the thumbnails.
Hold the Command key to select multiple files, and click the files to select. Drag all of them to the list of thumbnail images in Preview. Rearrange the pages by clicking the thumbnail images to the left and dragging them up or down.
Click File. A menu item in the top-left corner of Mac’s screen.
Click Export as PDF. It is placed at the “File” drop-down menu near the bottom.
Type a name for the merged PDF. Use the field next to “Save as” to type a file name for the merged PDF.
Click Save. Placed at the bottom-right corner of the window, combines selected PDFs into one document. It also save them into the same folder where the rest of the PDFs are.
How to combine PDF files : Using Adobe Acrobat DC
Open Adobe Acrobat DC. Adobe Acrobat DC Pro has a red and black icon with a white looping swoosh in the middle is Adobe’s proprietary (paid) PDF creation tool. it needs a subscription of $14.99 per month.
Click the Adobe Acrobat DC in the Windows Start folder, or Applications folder on Mac to open Adobe Acrobat reader, does not have the ability to merge PDFs.
Click Tools. Placed at the second tab at the top displays the PDF creation tools.
Click Combine Files. The second option on the Tools page has a purple icon that resembles two pages.
Click Add Files. Blue button in the center of the pages opens File Explorer on Windows or the Finder on Mac.
Navigate to the location the PDFs are stored. Use the File Explorer or Finder window to navigate to the folder the PDFs to merge are saved to.
Select the PDFs you want to merge. Press and hold Ctrl on Windows or Command on Mac to select multiple files and click the files to add.
Click Open. Placed in the lower-right corner displays all the PDFs as thumbnail images in Adobe Acrobat DC. Click Add Files at the top of the screen to add additional PDFs. Click and drag the thumbnail images in Adobe Acrobat DC to change the order of the files. Click a thumbnail to select it and click Remove at the top of the page to remove a PDF.
Click Combine. Blue button at the top of the page combines all the PDFs in the thumbnail list into one PDF.
Click File. It is placed in the menu bar at the top of Adobe Acrobat DC.
Click Save as. It is placed in the drop-down menu below “File” in Adobe Acrobat DC.
Click a recent save location or choose a various folder. Select one of the recent save locations listed, or click the blue button to select various save location.
Type a name. Use the field next to “Filename” to type a name for the PDF.
Click Save. Placed in the lower-right corner of the Save window saves the merged PDF using the file name chosen.
Use the above methods to solve the problem of how to combine PDF files.