Edit Text in a PDF
Click existing text and type a replacement.
Pick Draw, Text, Sign or Edit text, then click on the page. Turn the tool off to scroll freely on touch screens. Hover a text box to move or delete it. Edit text covers the old words and writes new ones on top.
How to edit Text in a PDF
- Open your PDF and the Edit text tool turns on.
- Click a line of text and type the replacement.
- Press Save PDF to download the result.
About this tool
Browsers cannot rewrite a PDF's internal text the way a word processor can, so this tool uses the method most free editors use: it covers the original line with a patch that matches the background and draws your new text on top. It is ideal for fixing a typo, a date or a number. By default, pages you edit are rebuilt as pictures so the old words are gone from the file for good, which also means those pages are no longer searchable. Untick that option to keep the page text selectable, but then the old text stays hidden inside the file. The replacement is set in Helvetica, so very decorative fonts will look different.
Frequently asked questions
Is the old text really removed?
Yes, by default. Edited pages are rebuilt as images, so the old words cannot be copied or recovered. If you untick Remove old text for good, the page keeps its text layer and the old words stay hidden under the patch, where they can still be extracted. Unedited pages are never changed.
Why does my new text look slightly different?
The replacement uses Helvetica at the original size. If the original used another font the match will not be exact.
Guide
How to Edit Text in a PDF (and What Is Not Possible)
Fix a typo, date or number in a PDF, and understand why editing PDF text is different from editing a Word document.