Add Page Numbers to a PDF

Drop in a PDF and this stamps a page number onto every page, free, no sign-up, and the file never leaves your machine because the numbering runs right there in your browser.

The part that actually matters is what happens when the file doesn't start at page 1. Most free numberers can't handle it. They assume every document begins at 1 and counts every page, so the moment you split a long manual into parts, or you've got a cover that shouldn't count, or you need a sequence unbroken across separate files, they fall over. This one lets you set the starting number to any whole number (0 included), and it counts only the pages it actually stamps, so a "1 of N" total tells the truth instead of a made-up count.

1. Add your PDF. Drag it onto the box or click to browse. One .pdf at a time.
2. Pick a position. Six spots, three along the bottom edge and three along the top. Bottom center is the default most people want.
3. Choose a format. Plain 1, or Page 1, or 1 of N, or 1 / N. The two "of N" styles fill in the real total for you.
4. Set the starting number. Defaults to 1. This is the field that does the real work, more on it below.
5. Adjust size and margin if you need to. Font size in points, and how far the number sits from the edge. The defaults look clean on letter and A4.
6. Skip the first page if it's a cover. Tick the box and page one stays blank, numbering picks up on page two.
7. Add numbers and download. You get a new file named yourfile-numbered.pdf, and your original is left exactly as it was.

The start at field looks like a throwaway option until the day you need it. Set it to 43 and page one of this file reads 43, the next reads 44, and up it goes. Two situations make it the whole reason to reach for this instead of whatever your PDF viewer bundles.

First, a document split into pieces. Say a manual got broken into three PDFs so each one would fit in an email. Number the first starting at 1, notice it ends on 60, then number the second starting at 61 and the third at wherever the second left off. The pagination runs continuous across all three even though they're separate files. No renumbering, no math beyond reading the last page of each part.

Second, front matter you don't want in the count. A title page and a table of contents usually shouldn't be "page 1" and "page 2." Skip them and start the body at 1, or set the start so the printed numbers match a reference you've already made. The number on the page is the one you picked, not whatever the file's internal order happens to be.

You can even start at 0, useful when a cover should read as page zero or you're matching a system that counts from zero. From whatever start you choose, the numbers climb by one to the end.

Work in law and "add page numbers" usually means Bates numbering, a unique sequential ID on every page so anyone can point to an exact page across a whole production ("the document at DEF000482"). The heart of Bates is a running number that never restarts and never repeats across the set, and that is exactly what the custom start gives you. Number the first file 1 through 300, the second starting at 301, the third at wherever that ends. Put the number in the bottom-right corner, the traditional Bates spot, and you've got a clean sequential stamp for review, discovery prep, or assembling exhibits.

Now the honest limit. Full Bates software also bakes an alphanumeric prefix into the label (SMITH-000001), pads to a fixed width, and adds confidentiality footers. This does the sequential number, not the prefix or the padding, so a formal court production still wants a dedicated legal package. For internal review and keeping a sequence unbroken across files, it's plenty.

The reason to do it here rather than some upload site: these documents are often privileged or under seal. A server tool has to receive your file to work on it. This one can't, there's no server in the loop, the PDF never travels anywhere. When the pages are confidential that stops being a nice extra and becomes the point.

Skip the first page and the cover comes out clean, no number, numbering starting on page two. The question that trips people up is what number page two gets. It gets your starting number. So with the default start of 1 and skip-first on, the cover is blank and the first inside page reads 1. The cover isn't counted at all, it's just left alone. Want the cover to count as page one but not display a number, so the second page reads 2? Set the start to 2 and skip the first page instead. It's a small distinction, but one worth being deliberate about.

This is where the "of N" total does the thing most tools botch. When you skip the cover, the total N drops to match. A 30-page file with a skipped cover reads 1 of 29 through 29 of 29, not a confusing 1 of 30 sitting on a stack of 29 numbered pages. The total always equals the pages actually stamped, so the last page reads X of X. If the final number and the total don't meet, you know a page went missing before you ever print the thing.

The margin control sets how far the number sits from the edge in points (72 to an inch), and the default of 28 puts it about a finger-width in. Turn it up if the page already carries a footer the number would crash into, down to tuck it into the corner. If the file is going to a print shop, a slightly larger margin keeps the number clear of the trim so it doesn't get sliced off.

The number sits on top like a stamp rather than flowing with your text, so it never collides with your paragraphs. It's also why this can number a scanned, image-only PDF just as easily as a text one, it's drawing new text on top, not editing what's underneath. Bottom center reads like a book and clears most headers, bottom right is the business-report standard and the Bates corner.