Merge PDF files in your browser

Combine multiple PDFs into one file on this device. No upload, no account, no watermark.

Folio merges PDF files in this browser. Drop two or more documents, put them in order, and download one file. The pages are copied on your device. They are not posted to a conversion server, parked in a ‘recent files’ locker, or held for a download link that expires tomorrow.

Use it when you already have separate PDFs and need a single packet: a signed lease plus an ID scan, an invoice plus a purchase order, a deck plus an appendix. Reordering is the whole product on this page — first file, then the next, top to bottom.

This is not an editor. You cannot delete a page in the middle of one file here, you cannot rearrange pages inside a single PDF, and you cannot overlay a signature. Split a file first if you need pieces, then merge the pieces. Compress lives on its own tab and does not run as part of merge.

Everything runs in your browser. Your PDFs are not uploaded to a server, there is no account wall, and downloads have no watermark.

Drop PDF files here

Add two or more PDFs, then reorder if you need to.

How it works

1
Drop or choose two or more PDF files. Each file is checked in this tab, not on a server.
2
Reorder them with the arrows. The merged PDF follows that list from top to bottom.
3
Tap Merge. Pages are copied in memory with pdf-lib. The tab must stay open.
4
Download the combined PDF. There is no watermark. Closing the tab discards the bytes.

How merge works on this page

You add PDFs with the drop zone or the file picker. Each file is checked in the tab: it must start with a PDF signature, it must be under the size guard, and we try to read a page count. A password-protected file is refused with a message. Nothing is uploaded during that check.

Use the arrows to change order. Merge concatenates pages: every page of file A, then every page of file B, and so on. If B should sit inside A, split A into the parts you need, then merge those parts with B. When you tap Merge, pdf-lib copies page content into a new document in memory and Folio offers that file as a download. Closing the tab drops the bytes.

Limits, browsers, and what never leaves the device

The per-file ceiling is 80 MB. That is a memory guard for phones and older laptops, not a pricing tier. Two valid PDFs are enough to merge; there is no maximum count besides RAM. Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari (including iOS) are the intended browsers. JavaScript must be on.

Your PDFs never go to Folio’s server. The host only serves this page’s HTML, scripts and fonts. Server logs may record that the page was requested (IP, user-agent), which is ordinary HTTPS traffic and is not the contents of the document. Ads, when they eventually go live after Google review, load from Google and do not receive your PDF either.

Password-protected files, encrypted files, and non-PDF uploads are rejected. Interactive forms may not stay fillable after a merge, because we copy pages into a new file and do not rebuild a form catalog. Keep the original if you still need to type into fields.

How this differs from iLovePDF, Smallpdf and similar sites

Those products are useful, and they are a different bargain. You create an account or accept an upload, the file travels to their cloud, and the free tier is often limited by daily jobs or a watermark. Folio has no account, no watermark as a condition of using merge, and no job counter. The trade-off is also honest: we do not OCR, we do not convert to Word, we do not e-sign, and a huge colour scan may exhaust a phone tab.

If you need a cloud link to send a colleague, Folio will not give you one — download the merged PDF and send it yourself. If you need Adobe’s preflight or a print shop’s PDF/X profile, this is the wrong tool. If you need a packet of already-good PDFs joined without an account, this is the page.

When to split or compress instead

Extract pages or cut a report into chapters on the Split tab. Range mode builds one PDF of the pages you listed; ‘one PDF per page’ writes a ZIP. After a split you can return here and merge a different subset.

If Gmail or a portal refuses the merged file for size, open Compress. Expect savings on digital exports (Word, invoices, slides). Do not expect a 40 MB photograph of paper to collapse — Folio does not recompress those images. Guides: how to split a PDF in the browser, and how to compress without uploading.

Gmail still refuses many packets around 25 MB — read the email size guide. A photograph of paper will not shrink here — read why scans stay heavy. Step-by-step merge: how to merge PDFs. Chat sends are a different cap: WhatsApp.

How to merge PDFs Email size limits

Frequently asked questions

Do my PDF files leave this device?+

No. Folio merge, split and compress run in this browser tab with JavaScript. The PDF bytes are read into memory on your phone or computer, rewritten there, and offered back as a download from that same tab. We do not provide an upload API for documents, we do not store PDFs on a server, and closing the tab discards the bytes. That is the difference from typical online PDF sites, which send the file to a machine you do not control.

Do I need an account or email to use Folio?+

No. Merge, split and compress never ask for a login, email or phone number. There is no quota tied to an account because there is no account. If a future optional feature ever needed sign-in, it would not gate the three tools on this site. You can finish a packet of contracts and leave without creating a profile.

Can I reorder files before merging?+

Yes. After you add PDFs, use the up and down controls on each row. The merged file follows that list from top to bottom: first file’s pages, then the next file’s pages, and so on. We do not interleave pages from two files automatically. If you need page 1 of B between pages of A, split A first, then merge the pieces in the order you want.

How large can a PDF be, and can I process a batch?+

Each file is rejected above 80 MB before we try to parse it, because a larger PDF will often crash a tab. Merge accepts two or more PDFs in one go. Compress accepts one or more and zips the results if you add several. Split works on one PDF at a time so page numbers stay unambiguous. A ‘batch’ that is really twenty 40 MB scans will still be limited by RAM; if the tab struggles, do fewer files per pass.

What happens if the PDF is password-protected?+

Folio cannot open an encrypted PDF in the browser without the password, and we will not ask you to type that password into this site. You will see an error instead of a silent failure. Remove the password in the tool that created the file (Preview, Acrobat, the scanner app), then drop the unprotected PDF here. We do not keep a keychain and we do not offer ‘unlock PDF’ as a product.

Do interactive forms still work after compress or merge?+

Not reliably. Folio copies page content into a new PDF. Fillable fields, checkboxes, dropdowns and JavaScript actions often belong to a form catalog that is not rebuilt. A form that you still need to type into should not be compressed or merged here — keep the original. A form that is already filled and flattened as marks on the page will usually still look filled, because those marks are page content, but it may no longer be editable.

Does the text stay selectable after compress?+

Yes for text that was already real text, not a picture of text. Folio does not rasterize pages into a single image, so copy-paste and find-in-document still work on digital PDFs. A scan remains a scan: you cannot select words that were never encoded as text. If you need searchable scans, run OCR in a dedicated tool first, then use Folio only to merge or split the result.

When do ads appear, and do you ask me to click them?+

Ad slots are reserved after a successful download and in the footer, plus a mid-page slot below the how-it-works block. Until Google marks the site Ready they are placeholders, not live ads. We do not pay you to click, we do not instruct you to click, and we do not place ads over Merge / Split / Compress. Please do not click ads as a favour — that violates Google policy and can close the account.

Who runs Folio and how do I contact you?+

Folio is a local-first PDF utility maintained as a public tool, not a venture product with a sales team. For a bug, a broken PDF that should have worked, or a privacy question, email ultaultimatum@gmail.com. Include the page URL, the browser, and what you expected. Do not attach the PDF unless we ask — the whole point of this site is that documents stay with you. We do not offer phone support.

Gmail said my PDF is too large. What should I click?+

If you can select text in the PDF, open Compress and try Balanced, then Maximum. If you cannot select text, it is probably a scan — Compress will barely help. Split out the pages the recipient needs, or recapture the paper at a smaller size. Folio does not email the file and does not give you a Drive link. Details: the email size guide.

Can I print the merged file at a shop?+

You can download it and take it to a shop. Folio does not produce PDF/X or PDF/A on purpose. Page sizes are not forced to one paper size. A phone-photo PDF merged with an A4 lease may look odd on a plotter. For a press-ready brochure, keep the layout export. Folio output is for packets and mail, not a new print master.

My PDF is 22 MB. Why does Gmail still refuse it?+

Mail encodes attachments in MIME, which adds about a third. A 22 MB file can leave as a 29 MB message. Aim under 18–19 MB if you want the send to be boring. Folio cannot strip MIME. Compress a digital export, or split pages. Details in the email size guide.