How we never upload your files

What happens when you use a tool

• You open a tool page. Your browser downloads the page and the program code for that tool — the same way it downloads any website.

• You choose a file. The browser reads it from your disk into the page's memory. Some tools download a little more code at this point, for example the PDF renderer or, for HEIC photos, an image decoder. These are code files coming to you; nothing about your file goes out.

• The tool processes the file on your device. Merging, compressing, rotating, encrypting and converting are done by that code, running on your own computer or phone.

• You download the result. The new file is created in your browser and saved straight to your device.

At no point is the file sent to PDFEdit or anyone else. That's also why the tools are free with no daily limit: there's no server doing the work, so there's nothing for us to ration.

What does the processing

PDFEdit is built on established open-source libraries that run in the browser:

• PDF.js — reads and displays PDF pages (previews, thumbnails, PDF to image, PDF to text).

• pdf-lib — creates and modifies PDF files (merge, split, rotate, page numbers, watermark, protect and more).

• libheif (compiled to WebAssembly) — decodes iPhone HEIC photos when your browser can't do it natively. It's only loaded when you add a HEIC photo.

• JSZip — packages multiple output files into one ZIP download.

See Open-source licenses for versions and licenses.

Check it yourself: the Network tab

You don't have to take our word for it. Every desktop browser has developer tools that list each request a page makes.

1. Open a tool, for example Merge PDF.
2. Open developer tools: press F12 (or Ctrl+Shift+I) on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Option+I on Mac. In Safari, first enable Settings → Advanced → Show features for web developers.
3. Click the Network tab. Click the clear button so the list is empty.
4. Add your files and run the tool, then download the result.
5. Look at the list. An upload would appear as a POST or PUT request. What you'll actually see are GET requests for code and icons from this site, and blob: entries, which are files living in your browser's memory. You may also see a small request to Cloudflare Web Analytics that records the page view. It doesn't contain your file.
6. Optional: sort by Size. None of the requests sent from your browser will be anywhere near the size of your PDF.

Check it yourself: go offline

Once a tool page has loaded, you can turn off your internet connection and the tool keeps working — add files, process them and download the results, all offline.

1. Open Merge PDF.
2. Turn off Wi-Fi or unplug your network cable (or in the Network tab, set throttling to Offline).
3. Add two or more PDFs, click Merge PDF, then Download.

The merge still completes and the file still downloads — because it never needed a server. The same is true of the other tools after the page has loaded.

Questions people ask