How to open and edit PDFs on an iPhone.
Whether you’re running a small business, studying at university, working remotely, or managing a busy household, there are countless reasons – both professional and personal – why you might need to open and edit a PDF on your iPhone.
In today’s fast-paced world, the ability to work with documents on the go is essential. You might need to quickly add pages, make annotations, edit or delete content, or add comments to a pdf – and you won't always have access to a desktop or laptop.
The good news is, if you’re an iPhone owner, it’s easy to edit a PDF on an Apple smartphone. Wherever you are, here’s a simple guide on how to open and edit a PDF on an iPhone.
What you’ll learn.
How to open a PDF on your iPhone.
There are a few ways to open PDF files on your iPhone – each with its own benefits and limitations. Depending on your needs, it's helpful to understand your options.
Open a PDF on iPhone with Apple Books.
You can use the Apple Books app to open PDFs on your iPhone. To view a PDF in Apple Books, you simply tap on the PDF file in the Files app. You’ll then be prompted to choose an app to open your PDF — select Apple Books. Alternatively, if the file is attached to an email, you can open it directly from there.
Once the PDF is open in Apple Books, you can use some basic features, such as bookmarking, notations, and highlighting.
Open a PDF on iPhone with the built-in files app.
The Files app is ideal for quickly previewing PDFs on your iPhone. When you open a PDF in Files, you'll see a preview in a new window. From here, you have the option to save the file to your iPhone or open it in another app.
Open a PDF on iPhone with a web browser.
To view a PDF hosted on a website, simply open it in a web browser on your iPhone. All you need to do is navigate to the website and tap the PDF link. The PDF will then open in your browser, where you can choose to open it in another app or save it to your iPhone.
Open a PDF on iPhone with a PDF reader app.
There are several third-party PDF reader apps available on the App Store that offer additional features such as annotations, editing, and syncing across devices. Some popular options include Adobe Acrobat Reader.
How to download Adobe Acrobat Reader and open PDFs on your iPhone.
If you want a straightforward way to view and manage PDFs on your iPhone, Adobe Acrobat Reader is a great choice. Here’s how to download it and get started:
- Open the App Store on your iPhone.
- Tap ‘Get’ to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader app, then tap ‘Open’.
- On the Welcome to Acrobat Reader screen, tap ‘Continue’ and choose whether to allow notifications.
- On the Get Started screen, tap ‘Continue’.
- Tap on the cross in the top right, and the Welcome screen will display.
- Tap on the ‘Search’ button at the bottom right of the screen.
- In the search bar at the top of the screen, type the name of the PDF you want to open (or browse your iPhone's storage).
- Tap on the PDF you want to open, and it will appear on the screen.
How to edit a PDF on an iPhone.
You’ve got a few options if you want to edit a PDF on an iPhone – though the tools or methods you use might change slightly.
Use the built-in markup tool to edit a PDF on iPhone.
You can easily edit a PDF using the built-in markup tools in iOS. To start, open your PDF file in the Files app. Tap the file to open it, then select the Markup button. From there, you can add text, highlight, draw and more.
Convert your PDF to a different format.
If you’re having trouble editing the PDF directly or prefer working in a different format, you can convert your PDF to an editable file type of your choosing. One common choice is to convert your PDF to a Word document. Online tools, like the Adobe Converter Tool, can help with this. Once your PDF has been converted, you can edit it in Word or another word processing app and then save it as a PDF again.
Edit a PDF on iPhone with a PDF editing app.
There are several apps available on the App Store that make editing PDFs a breeze. These apps offer a range of features such as adding text, highlighting, drawing, adding shapes, and inserting images, to name a few. Among the most popular options is Adobe Acrobat Reader.
How to edit a PDF on iPhone with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Open the Adobe Acrobat Reader app.
- Tap on the ‘Search’ button, found in the bottom right corner of the screen.
- In the search bar located at the top of your iPhone screen, type the name of the PDF you’d like to edit.
- Alternatively, you can select the ‘Files’ option to browse for PDF files from your iPhone, photos, Adobe cloud storage, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or email.
- Tap the blue pen circle in the bottom right corner. A menu will pop up.
- To add comments, select ‘Comment’. You can also enter a name to identify your comments at this stage.
- To add a signature, choose ‘Fill & Sign’.
- For more advanced edits, tap ‘Edit PDF’. Please note, this option is available only with a Premium subscription.
To access the full suite of editing tools, you’ll need an Adobe Acrobat Pro subscription. For simple edits, you can try the Acrobat edit PDF tool for free.
How to edit a PDF on iPhone with in-built markup tools.
- Open the Files app on your iPhone.
- In the search bar at the top of the screen, type the name of the PDF you want to open and edit.
- Swipe from the left edge of the screen to the right and the thumbnail page view will show up.
- Select the page you want to edit by pressing down and holding the page icon.
- A menu will pop up at the bottom of the screen. To make markups, tap on the circular pen tool. To add a signature, tap on the signature box tool to the right of the markup tool, in the bottom right corner.
FAQs.
More resources.
Content as a Service v3 - Wednesday 8 January 2025 at 16:57
