Drop a PDF into the upload box. Then choose a format, position, and style — the preview shows exactly what your numbered PDF will look like.
Page numbers are one of those small details that make a document feel finished. Without them, referencing a specific part of a document becomes a nuisance: "the paragraph about pricing, about a third of the way through" instead of "page 4, section 2."
Whether you're finishing a report, printing a manual, or sending a contract, adding page numbers is one of the last things you do — but it's the thing everyone notices when it's missing. This tool does it in seconds, without uploading your file anywhere.
| Format | Example | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Plain number | 7 |
Simple documents, printed manuals, internal reports |
| "Page N" | Page 7 |
Formal documents, business reports, letters |
| "Page N of M" | Page 7 of 24 |
Contracts, formal submissions, anything where readers need to know how far they've got |
| "N / M" | 7 / 24 |
Clean, minimal, common in academic papers and journals |
There's also a custom template option. Use {n} for the current page number and {total} for the total count. For example: — {n} — produces "— 7 —" which is a classic style for books, or Sheet {n} of {total} for engineering drawings, or even Page {n} · Confidential if you want to combine a page number with a label.
This is where most readers expect to find page numbers. It's the default for almost every book, report, and legal document. If you're not sure, use bottom center.
Popular in modern business documents and academic papers. The advantage over center is that it doesn't get in the way of a footer or a footnote that spans the width of the page.
Used in some European conventions and dual-language documents where the right side has other content. Also common in bilingual documents where the left is reserved for one language's footer.
Less common but useful in documents that have a large bottom margin — forms, for example, where there's a signature block at the bottom. Top right is the most frequent top placement.
Rare for standard documents, but useful for specific layout styles — poetry books, art books, or anything where the number is meant to sit alongside the content rather than in the margin.
| Position | Best for |
|---|---|
| Bottom center | Books, reports, formal documents — the default |
| Bottom right | Business documents, academic papers, anything with a wide footer |
| Bottom left | Bilingual documents, or when the right side is busy |
| Top right | Documents with heavy bottom content (forms, invoices) |
| Top center | Formal letters, certificates |
| Middle | Poetry, art books, unusual layouts |
This is the part that trips people up, so here's exactly how it works.
The first page that gets a number shows the value you set here. If Start = 5, the first numbered page shows "5" (or "Page 5 of N"). This is useful when you're appending pages to a document that already has numbering — for example, adding appendix pages to a report where the main body ends at page 42.
The pages you skip don't get numbers, but they still count toward the total when using the "Page N of M" format. If you skip the first 2 pages of a 10-page PDF and use "Page N of 8", the numbered pages show "Page 1 of 8" through "Page 8 of 8". This matches how real books work — the title page and copyright page aren't numbered but the total includes them.
This is a finer filter. If you enter 3-7, 10, only those pages get numbers, and they're numbered sequentially (3 → 1, 4 → 2, 5 → 3, etc.). Combined with Start Number, this gives you total control.
The "of M" part can be confusing. Here's how M is calculated in this tool:
So on a 10-page PDF with 2 skipped pages, the last numbered page shows "Page 8 of 8". On the same PDF with range 3-7, M = 5 (pages 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), and the pages show "Page 1 of 5" through "Page 5 of 5".
Most online PDF page number tools upload your file to their server. For a public brochure, that's fine. For a legal filing, a client contract, or a medical record, handing the file to a stranger's computer is a serious privacy risk.
This tool works differently. Everything runs inside your browser. The PDF is opened directly from your device's storage, the numbers are drawn in memory, and the numbered output is written back out. No upload, no server, nothing to leak.
The original numbers are baked into the page content and can't be removed without redacting them. Two options: (1) use the Redact PDF tool to blackout the old numbers, then add new ones with this tool — a bit of work but clean. Or (2) accept the original numbers and use this tool to add numbers only in a spot the originals don't touch (e.g. top right if the originals are bottom center).
Increase the Margin setting. 24pt is a good default (about 1/3 inch). Increase to 36pt or 48pt if the number is too close to the edge, especially for printing.
Set "Skip first pages" to 1. The first page gets no number; the second page shows "Page 1" (or the value of your Start number).
Check both the Skip and the Range settings. If you use a custom range like 3-7, the "of M" count is 5 (not the total page count). If you skip 2 pages without a range, "of M" counts the pages after the skip.
Change the Start Number. If the document is a continuation (like appendix pages), set Start to whatever comes after the last page of the main body.
The page you're on may be excluded by your Skip or Range settings. Use the Prev/Next buttons to find a page that is being numbered, or turn on "Preview on current page anyway" to see what it would look like on the current page regardless.
| Feature | Page Numbers | Add Watermark | Add Text/Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applies to all pages at once | Yes | Yes | No |
| Auto-incrementing numbers | Yes | No | No |
| Custom text | Templates with {n} {total} | Fixed label | Any text |
| Fixed positions | 12 preset positions | Center / tiled / corner | Free drag anywhere |
| Skip cover pages | Yes | Page range | N/A |
| Best for | Paginating a document | Branding and labels | Precise one-off additions |
Yes. Here's exactly what happens when you use this tool:
At no point does the file leave your device. No data is sent to SkillsInsider's servers. No tracking cookies watch your edits. You can prove it yourself: turn off Wi-Fi after the page loads, then number a PDF. It still works perfectly.
Yes — completely free. No sign-up, no watermark of our own on the output, no page limits, no per-file fee.
No. Everything runs locally in your browser using pdf-lib and PDF.js. Your file never leaves your device.
Yes. Use the "Skip first pages" setting — set it to 1 to skip a cover, or higher for multi-page front matter like a title page and table of contents.
X is the current page number (starting from your chosen number) and Y is the total count of pages being numbered. If you skip the first 2 pages of a 10-page PDF, the pages you number show "Page 1 of 8" through "Page 8 of 8".
Yes. Use the Start Number setting. If you set Start = 3, the first numbered page shows "3" (or "Page 3 of N"). Useful when combining separate PDFs that already have numbering patterns.
Yes. Use Skip First Pages and Page Range. Skip First Pages excludes the beginning of the document; Page Range lets you specify exactly which pages get numbered, like 1-5, 8, 12-15.
No. The original pages are copied byte-for-byte. Only the page number text is added on top — existing text stays sharp, images keep their original resolution, and hyperlinks stay clickable.
Once the page has fully loaded, yes. Turn off Wi-Fi and it still numbers — all processing happens locally on your device.
