How to Merge PDF Files Into One (In the Right Order)

Merging PDFs is one of those tasks that should be trivial and somehow isn't. Acrobat wants a subscription, Preview's drag-and-drop between sidebars is fiddly, and many websites want you to upload your tax return to a server you know nothing about.

Here's the quick, private way.

Common reasons to merge

• Applications: CV, cover letter and certificates as one PDF.
• Accounts: a month of invoices or receipts in one file.
• Reports: chapters written by different people.
• Scans: a document scanned in several goes.

How to merge PDFs with ZapMorph

1. Open Merge PDF

Go to the Merge PDF tool.

2. Add your PDFs and put them in order

Select all the PDFs you want to combine. Then use the arrows next to each file to set the order. The top file comes first in the merged document.

3. Merge and download

Click Merge PDFs and download your combined file.

Other ways

Mac Preview: open the first PDF, show thumbnails (View → Thumbnails), then drag the other PDFs into the sidebar where you want them. Save. It works well once you know the trick.

Windows: there's no built-in merge. Microsoft Print to PDF only prints one file at a time.

Adobe Acrobat: Tools → Combine Files. Very capable, but paid.

Tips

• Name files with numbers (01-cv.pdf, 02-cover-letter.pdf) to make ordering quicker.
• Merged file too big for email? Run it through Compress PDF.
• Need page numbers across the whole thing? Merge first, then use Add Page Numbers.
• Got images too? Turn them into a PDF with Images to PDF, then merge.
• Merging emails? EML Merge puts a whole thread into one PDF in date order.

Merge, then tidy up

Merging other file types

• Images: Images to PDF first.
• Emails: EML Merge puts many emails into one PDF.
• Word documents: Word to PDF, then merge.

Summary

Add the files, arrange them, merge. The Merge PDF tool keeps quality intact, adds no watermark, and never uploads your documents.