Combine PDFs on Windows
Windows 10 and 11 can view PDFs in Edge and print to PDF, but they can’t join existing PDF files. The merger below runs in Edge or Chrome, so there is nothing to install.
Drop PDFs to mergeLoading the merger…
Is there a built-in way on Windows?
There’s no built-in way. Microsoft Print to PDF turns one document into a PDF; printing several PDFs to it gives separate files, not one. Edge can open and annotate PDFs but has no merge command.
With the browser merger above
- Tap or click the orange panel and choose your PDFs (images work too).
- Drag them into order; type a page range under any file to take only part of it.
- Press Merge. The new PDF saves to your downloads, built on this Windows.
Tips for Windows
- Select several PDFs in File Explorer and drag them all onto the orange panel at once.
- File Explorer often hides extensions; the merger accepts any file whose type is PDF.
- Managed work PCs that block installs usually still allow this page, because nothing is installed.
What carries over
| Situation | What happens here |
|---|---|
| Ordinary PDFs | Pages are copied as-is: text stays selectable, links on the page keep working, images are not re-compressed. |
| Password to open | You type the password; it is used only in this tab. The output can't carry the old encryption, so those pages are re-drawn as images (about 144 dpi) and their text is no longer selectable. |
| Owner password only (no-edit / no-print flags) | Opens without asking, but is handled the same way as above: pages become images. We don't strip protection and hand back an editable copy. |
| Very large jobs | Everything is held in this tab's memory. A laptop copes with a few hundred MB; phones and tablets top out sooner. If a tab crashes, merge in batches and then merge the results. |
| Fillable forms | Field appearance is kept, but fields may stop being fillable in the merged file. Fill and save forms first. |
| Digital signatures | Any change to a signed PDF breaks the signature's validation. Merge copies if you need the signed original intact. |
| Original bookmarks | Not carried over. The merger can add one bookmark per file instead. |
Questions
Can I merge PDFs in Microsoft Edge?
Edge itself has no merge feature, but you can open this page in Edge and merge there. The files are processed by Edge on your PC.
Is it safe to merge confidential PDFs on a work PC?
The files never leave the PC; the page’s code runs locally. Check your organisation’s policy about web tools, but there is no upload to approve.
Can I combine PDF and Word files on Windows?
Not directly. Save the Word document as PDF first (File › Save As › PDF in Word), then merge the PDFs.