Edit & compose · guide
What Add page numbers to PDF does
Add page numbers to PDF prints a number in the bottom-right corner of every page, counting up from any start you choose, with an optional prefix such as Page. The numbers are real text in 11-point Helvetica, and the preview shows them on the first eight pages as you type. For Page 3 of 12, centred numbers or a prefix in another script, use Add header, footer or Bates numbers. The file is never uploaded.
How to add page numbers to PDF in your browser
- Choose one PDF Select the PDF to number. It opens in this browser tab and is not uploaded.
- Set the numbering Set Start at to the first number you want. To put words before the number, open Number styling and type a Prefix such as Page; a space is added after a word for you.
- Add the numbers and save Select Add numbers, check the first and last pages and any landscape page, then save the new PDF.
Worked example
Add a simple sequence to a ten-page handout.
- Starting point
- Choose a ten-page PDF that should be numbered on every page.
- What to do
- Set Start at to 1 and optionally enter Page followed by a space as the prefix. Create and open the result.
- Result
- Expect labels 1–10 in the bottom-right corner of the ten pages, with your prefix if supplied.
If the result is not right
This view does not offer a page range or position selector. To leave covers untouched, extract the body, number that copy, then merge the untouched covers back before it.
Limits worth knowing
- Source page position and printed page labels are different. Existing printed numbers are not automatically erased.
Questions and answers
How do I number pages as Page 3 of 12?
Use Add header, footer or Bates numbers: its footer accepts {page} and {pages}, so Page {page} of {pages} prints Page 3 of 12 on the third page of twelve, centred at the foot. This tool prints one number per page, with an optional prefix, in the bottom-right corner.
Can I start numbering from a number other than 1?
Yes. Set Start at to any whole number from 1 up, which helps when a document continues from an earlier part: start at 37 and the pages read 37, 38, 39 and on. The first page is numbered too, counting up from there.
How do I leave the cover page without a number?
There is no skip option, so every page gets one. Two ways round it: number the whole file, then cover the number on the cover with Whiteout in Edit PDF, which leaves a faint outline; or take pages 2 onward out with Extract PDF pages, number them with Start at set to 2, and put the cover back in front with Merge PDF.
Why is the number sideways, or missing, on some pages?
This tool places the number against each page's full stored sheet. A landscape page that is stored upright and turned for display gets its number sideways along an edge, and a page cropped smaller than its sheet, as many scans are, can have the number land outside the part you see. Add header, footer or Bates numbers measures each page as it is displayed, so use it, with Page {page} in the footer, for documents like these.
Can I change where the number goes, its size or its font?
Not here: the number is 11-point Helvetica in dark grey, about 8 mm in from the right edge and 7 mm up from the bottom, and the prefix has to use Latin letters. It is drawn on top of the page without looking for numbers already there, so a document with its own numbers in that corner will show both. Add header, footer or Bates numbers centres its text at the top or bottom instead, and draws other scripts from your device's fonts, though an Arabic or Hebrew phrase of more than one word comes out with its words in reverse order.