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How to merge PDF files on a Mac

By Mergevanta · Updated · 2 min read

Quick answer

How do I merge PDF files on a Mac?

Open the first PDF in Preview, choose View › Thumbnails and select the page after which to insert. Then choose Edit › Insert › Page from File, pick the next PDF and save with File › Export as PDF. To reorder files by dragging, open Mergevanta in Safari or Chrome, add the PDFs and click Merge.

Method 1: Merge PDFs with Preview

Preview comes with every Mac and can combine PDFs without installing anything.

  1. 1Open the first PDF in Preview.
  2. 2Choose View › Thumbnails to show the page thumbnails in the sidebar.
  3. 3Click the thumbnail of the page after which the next document should go.
  4. 4Choose Edit › Insert › Page from File, select the PDF to add and click Open. Repeat for each file.
  5. 5Drag thumbnails in the sidebar to fine-tune the order, then choose File › Export as PDF to save the combined file.

Method 2: Create a PDF with a Finder Quick Action

  1. 1In Finder, select the PDFs (and images, if you like) that you want to combine — Command-click to select several.
  2. 2Control-click the selection and choose Quick Actions › Create PDF.
  3. 3A new PDF appears in the same folder, named after the first file you selected. Open it to check the page order.

Method 3: Merge in your browser with Mergevanta

Mergevanta works in Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Edge on macOS. It's the quickest option when you want to set the order by dragging, or combine Word, PowerPoint or Excel files as well.

  1. 1Open Mergevanta's Merge PDF page.
  2. 2Drag your PDFs from Finder onto the drop zone.
  3. 3Drag the file cards into order.
  4. 4Click Merge, then Download. The combined PDF lands in your Downloads folder with no watermark.

Preview vs. Finder vs. Mergevanta

Preview vs. Finder vs. Mergevanta
PreviewFinder Quick ActionMergevanta
Set the order before savingYes — drag thumbnailsNoYes — drag file cards
WatermarkNoneNoneNone
Works on Windows and phonesNoNoYes
Merges Word, PowerPoint and ExcelNoNoYes
CostFree, built inFree, built inFree

In short

  • Preview merges PDFs with Edit › Insert › Page from File, then File › Export as PDF.
  • Finder's Quick Actions › Create PDF combines selected files in one step.
  • Mergevanta works in any Mac browser and adds drag-to-reorder and Office formats.

Frequently asked questions

No. Preview and the Finder Quick Action are built into macOS and never add a watermark. Neither does Mergevanta.

Use Mergevanta in your browser: drag the PDFs onto the Merge PDF page, put them in order and click Merge. You can also select files in Finder and choose Quick Actions › Create PDF.

Yes. Finder's Create PDF Quick Action accepts both. With Mergevanta, turn the images into a PDF with JPG to PDF first, then merge it with your other PDFs.

In Preview, choose View › Thumbnails and drag pages up or down in the sidebar. In Mergevanta, set the order of the files before you merge by dragging their cards.

More guides

How to merge PDF files without a watermarkMerge PDFs free with no watermark, sign-up or page limit: step-by-step instructions, why some tools add watermarks and how to check your PDF is clean.How to merge PDF files on iPhone and iPadTwo free ways to combine PDFs on an iPhone or iPad without installing an app: Mergevanta in Safari, or the Files app's Create PDF action. Step by step.How to merge PDF files on Windows 10 and 11Windows has no built-in PDF merger. Here's how to combine PDFs for free in Edge or Chrome with no install or watermark — plus a built-in trick for images.
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