How To Work With PDFs On An iPhone or iPad

macmost.com/e-2681 You can create, view, mark up, merge and split PDF documents on an iPhone and iPad with no special apps needed. If you know where to look, you can do almost everything in the Files app, but the Books app may be the better way to view PDFs.
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00:00 Intro
00:47 Creating PDFs
02:03 Viewing and Marking Up PDFs
02:30 Merging PDFs
03:05 Split PDFs
04:15 The Books App As a PDF Viewer
#macmost #iphone #PDF

[@savinayn]

Your videos are always so helpful. Not only for tech newbies, but also tech savvy folks. I consider myself pretty well versed, but got annoyed with the inability to bookmark pages or click embedded links in the Files pdf reader. But the idea of using Books as a primary PDF reader is really smart. Thank you!

[@dennisvanmierlo]

Hi Gary, I knew the pich-out trick but your videos always take it to the next level. I learned a lot more than I thought I knew. Thank you so much 👌☺️ Lot’s of greetings, Dennis 🇳🇱

[@tl9150]

Splitting my and merging in native Files is a game changer. I use 20 page PDFs in NaturalReader so splicing down large books is a snap thanks to your instruction. Thank you sir! Cheers.

[@normanleblanc8113]

BOOM!!!! Thanks Gary this just makes my choice of using an iPad vs a laptop for my job a better option. Awesome

[@IRVremy]

Gary your videos never cease to amaze me. The one that I am waiting for is when you teach us how to get markup to highlight and go behind the the text and not dim it out.

[@loisskiathitis8926]

A very useful video tutorial. Thank you, Gary! 👏🏻❤️

[@ciarakitley5276]

This might be one of the most useful videos I’ve ever watched! Thank you so much

[@jeffsinason4336]

Very cool. This has been something I’ve been missing for a long time. Thank you.

[@tjmsyd6298]

I did not know that you can merge pdfs on an iPhone - most useful. Thanks once again Gary!

[@stephenvictor8961]

You are the Man!, Gary. Thanks. Your work serves life saving functions.

[@ZenWalks]

Wow, so useful! I was struggling on how to arrange PDF’s on the iPad. Thanks for this and cheers from Portugal! :)

[@qwincyq6412]

Thank you. Every time I watch I learn something new that I didn’t know was possible.

[@angeliquebel]

😍 Thank you so much Gary, this is super useful!

[@LJ-jq8og]

Always super helpful - Thank you 🙏

[@VH-yg8rx]

Just learned the merge PDFs function! Thank you! 🎉

[@frederickbanjoman9482]

Gary, your videos are helpful, informative, professional, and I Thank You

[@TheKingJoker666]

Wohoo I got them!! Thanks so much

[@onlyonecjb001]

I had simply overlooked the Books app. Thank you.

[@johnqpublic8070]

Always great information. Thanks

[@bradtaylor3332]

Excellent video! I had no idea the phone/iPad had this. Thank you for sharing.

[@zm23f]

Great tips!! Thank you very much!!

[@Saipavanteja]

As usual… fantastic video .. this channel deserves a million subscribers ❤️

[@matthewgrissom4652]

Thank you so much! I need to know how to spilt pdfs and this video was so helpful! Thanks again!!🙂👍👌

[@Greg-fg1rd]

Awesome! Thanks...very useful!

[@ricwestdoesitwork]

Great informative video Gary thanks.

[@kvsubbarao57]

Learned a few new things with this video. Thanks a lot.

[@samsilberman3496]

Extremely helpful video. 😀 you have educated me again

[@pomme4moi]

Great episode. Thank you.

[@hanskuoni8475]

Well done !

[@alain1375]

Very useful! Thank you sir!

[@l.kurdistani]

Thanks, Gary. Useful.

[@EdwardFajardo-ow3ns]

wow this is useful thank you

[@antoinerolles5238]

Hi Gary, do you know how to split view (see a the same time two different parts of a same document that is opened only once) on a pdf on ipad ?

[@chrislyon2420]

Really useful video, it’s so informative.

[@eli77721]

Thanks so much.

[@mrugeshkumarmpatel9607]

Excellent ❤

[@eddiemccolm]

Thank you Gary. I finally know how to print from notes.

[@Absorbing146]

Thank you, This is useful and I always struggled using PDF on iPhone

[@armandinejacotin]

Very helpful indeed. I am subscribing.

[@kruger]

Great tip!

[@desertpatient]

Thanks bunches

[@jackbauer8624]

What about working in Google drive from a iPhone .. a pdf file would work the same as in File app ?

[@annepontuso4843]

Thank you for not taking 20 minutes to describe the “how to” video.

[@onelove8277]

Broo 1yr ago ur still the best 🙌🏾🙌🏾🤝🏾

[@kennedyanku8589]

You're the best,😉🙏🏾

[@seans2551]

You are great

[@AlohaMichaelDaly]

Great - you always da best - mahalo

[@BriiMASSACRE]

Thank you! This was so useful! Are there any ways to view layers on PDFs on iPads? I can’t seem to find the icon in the adobe app!

[@macmost]

Layers? No, I would think the Adobe Reader app would do it. But otherwise look in the App Store.

[@davidgory1757]

More things I never knew … thanks!

[@jimmyzbike]

I love books app!

[@dignatorres9940]

I am team apple 🍎 . I love all of your video. I like how you have a video for each app and setting. Can you make a video ,going over some iPhone setting that it’s there but we don’t touch or change because we don’t know what would happen if we touch them.. lol

[@WhatsAbout]

Hello there 👋 i have seen many videos of your about macbook. I have macbook air 2017 and "Volume keys & Brightness Keys" function mixed. When i press "brightness down key" volume downs , When i press " volume down key" brightness downs , Couldn't find any fix online so try to get help from you here :) Cheers and thanks so much

[@macmost]

Go to System Preferences, Keyboard, Input Sources and make sure the correct keyboard is selected that matches what you have. If that doesn't work, call Apple Support.

[@thewebstylist]

Always great vids G Money! Curious if you know how to join multiple photo scanned pages into notes as one PDF file? I’m trying to keep records of a bunch of PDFs in a single Notes folder Big Thanks for any insight!

[@macmost]

So are they in the same Note? Then export that note as a PDF.

[@BHimchak]

This is not clear. Documents in my Google Drive that I’m trying to send into a text message. My iPhone keeps giving me errors unable to send. I went to “settings “and click “messages”, made sure SMS and MMS turned on. It still won’t send

[@BitesOfFaith]

LOVE your video! I have low vision and wondered if you knew how to make the PDF print enlarged in iBooks! Looking forward to your answer. You're probably the only one that knows it on here.

[@macmost]

A PDF is like a piece of paper, but in digital form. The text, images, graphics and other elements are all fixed on the page so it looks exactly the same for everyone viewed on any device. The only way to make the text bigger therefore is to use the +- zoom controls.

[@BitesOfFaith]

@@macmost That's what I thought; but then the print goes off the page!

[@macmost]

@@BitesOfFaith Right. Then you have to scroll horizontally to read it.

[@Truthfully12312]

But it did not merge in iPad. Please help

[@alexreynoldsjr]

How do you get the pdf thumbnails in the Files app as you navigate? I’ve got iOS 15 on my iPhone mini 12 and I don’t get preview thumbnails.

[@macmost]

Perhaps those particular PDFs are not downloaded to your iPhone? Try doing that first and see if you get the thumbnails then.

[@adco]

I appreciate the info. I am iOS only these days.

[@mca1846]

I want to highlight the arrival date of a visitors arrival sheet with turning the background colour of the dates involved to say orange or green. that way i can see at a glance whole is about to arrive . is this possible please

[@macmost]

Yes. Just use the markup tools. Look from 2:15 or so. There is even a highlighter tool at the bottom. Try it to see.

[@vaniacastillo9600]

Thank you so much Gary for constantly teaching us how to better use our Apple products 🙏🏽! Could you please tell me what I am doing wrong when I try to split the PDF, I select the range, then select print, but I don’t see the option to save the new document to files. I goes directly to printing 🤔. Thank you so much for your help🙏🏽🙏🏽!

[@macmost]

Watch the beginning of the video carefully as I show you how to go from Print to save as a PDF.

[@nachiketjoshi6594]

@@macmost i need to spit all the files and not a select few like you shown. I have a PDF of 10 pages and i need to split it in 10 different files. I have the adobe app and have subscribed to the pro pack but the pro pack doesnt have the option in organise pages section. pls help if you can.

[@macmost]

@@nachiketjoshi6594 You could use the technique I show in this video to split it.

[@ashutoshgupta224]

In files app pdf keep refreshing it is very frustrating

[@tushartrivedi822]

Thank you very much sir, But i have one question i have many paper. So how to capture in pdf in one file?

[@macmost]

How are you capturing? If you are using the scan feature of the Files app, you keep going until you have all of the pages and then you save.

[@peterflanagan3883]

Hi Gary great video as usual. One question if you add some annotation to aPDF and you decide that you want to remove it or change it how do you delete it? Stag

[@macmost]

If you just did it, you can use Edit, Undo. Or, select that annotation and press Delete. But usually once you save it is permanent. You can then just go back to the original PDF and start again.

[@bakhtyarshwani9976]

Thank you for your allcontributions you provide, but you know if you convert a file yourself to PDF, or translate an image to PDF and try to send it to book it will not work on the book properly, like the book that you buy, for example, you cannot highlight a specific text and write notes on that text that you self converter to PDF. Could you explain more on the types of PDF and how one can make this PDF? Thank you

[@macmost]

I've never seen that, but I don't use the Books app to annotate things much. Are you creating a PDF from images? If so, then they are images, not text. You may see text, but the computers see them as photos. If you create a PDF from a document, like in Pages or a webpage, then it should be text there that you can select.

[@sandraboland]

I'm wondering why my phone does not give an option to save to files after selecting the pages (creating a PDF) Starting on the video at 3:12. I looked user Edit Actions but Can't see an option.

[@macmost]

Are you using the current iOS? Are you in Safari?

[@howard5445]

Very helpful video! Thank you! I would like to copy multiple pages from a pdf, and paste them to a Pages app document on iphone/ipad. But whatever I do, only the first page of the pdf gets pasted. How can I copy and paste the rest? Please help. Thank you!

[@howard5445]

After watching your video again, I found a solution. I can use the Print function to select any page of the pdf to copy and paste to a Pages document. Although I still cannot copy and paste multiple pages, I can now at least do it one page at a time to insert the entire pdf document into Pages. Thanks again!

[@macmost]

What's the goal? Why put them in Pages at all?

[@howard5445]

@@macmostI have other contents created using the Pages app. I need to insert some pages from a pdf document to complete the Pages document.

[@carolinemyddelton580]

So useful! And there was I thinking it wasn't possible to do all those things with PDFs on the iPhone unless I had some special app. Another super-cool tutorial-thank you, Gary!

[@christinewong7528]

Hi, can I know what is the function of the pencil for imaginary line, the 5th icon on the panel?

[@christinewong7528]

2:27

[@macmost]

Selection. For example: draw two lines. Then use this tool to drag a circle around both and you can select both lines and move them together, etc.

[@leahthompson7930]

I do not have a printer at home. Is there a way to split pages out of a pdf without the PRINT option when splitting my pages?

[@macmost]

You should be able to use this without a print. Try it.

[@diamondbreak]

No one beats Gary here.

[@paulsagnella214]

Hi, I try doing it the way you instructed but a pop up keep saying "without the owner password, you do not have permission to save this document" How do I go around it? thanks

[@macmost]

Sounds like that PDF is password-protected.

[@codad3x]

Thanks Gary! Is there a way to reorder the pages of a PDF like Preview can do? When I merged 2 pdf files, the page order was the same regardless of which file I selected first.

[@macmost]

I can't think of a way to do that with the built-in tools, but experiment and see. Otherwise, you may need to go to a third-party app or just use Preview on your Mac in that situation.

[@codad3x]

I did experiment, and googled it too! In the Files app, swipe from the left side of the screen to the right and the thumbnail view appears. From there you can tap, hold and drag pages to re-order them. To undo changes before saving, click the markup tool for the undo button. Pretty nifty.

[@codad3x]

Also noticed if I swipe slowly from the left side of the screen, it takes me to the previous document. I have to swipe quickly to see the thumbnails.

[@Amity024]

Hi sir When i press hold text to highlight it shows me predefined colors (for me they are a bit dark coloured shades ) How can i change the colors to have lighter shades?

[@macmost]

On iOS using this you only have those colors.

[@StephenJordan514]

Hey Gary! First time commenting but a looooooong time viewer. Loved this tutorial, but I have one question: is there a way to rearrange the order of the pages of a PDF in iOS? For example: I merged 3 documents in one like you just taught us, but I would like to have the 3rd document in place of the second one; or move, let's say page 5, in between pages 2 and 3. This can be done in "Preview" on the Mac by dragging and dropping the thumbnails. Thanks again!!!

[@macmost]

I don't think there is a way to do this on iOS, but maybe with a third-party app?

[@StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz]

@@macmost Gary for some reason I can send myself PDFs in the iOs messaging app (15.6.1), but I can’t send them to anyone else. I’m almost positive I used to have zero problem doing so, so I was wondering if you knew what is wrong, as every single video I watch on this or article doesn’t have my specific problem, and their answers haven’t worked thus far. Cheers, and thanks in advance, love all your tips always, first time commenting as well. Best always

[@macmost]

@@StalinLovsMsmZioglowfagz What happens when you try? An error message? Something else? Is this a particularly large PDF, maybe? Are these other people using iMessage or SMS?

[@Subbaarun]

Hey, how do you jump to a specific page in a large pdf?

[@macmost]

One way is to scroll and then tap where it says the page number at the top left and then use the thumbnails. There are probably others. Play around with ti.

[@TDHobbies]

I have a large PDF that I put in the book section (it's a service manual) , it worked for many days, and now it will not open anymore. Is this something common? How do I fix and avoid this? new iPad Air with latest IOS for now I shared the file into adobe reader and it works, but not in books anymore.

[@macmost]

Try force-quitting Books and launch it again. Or, just restarting. See if that helps.

[@TDHobbies]

@@macmost Thanks for the reply, that didn't work, but I go into books, click on the dots bottom right of that book, click share, and send it to a visible folder I can open it in adobe reader. Books also shows the book as 34% reading completed. I put the book in there using iMazing, maybe I will remove and reinstall the book. I was just wondering if this were a common occurance for some reason.

[@mr.rhinehart410]

I have a quick question. Can you export a PDF file into Freeform app?

[@macmost]

Export "into?" Not sure what you mean. You can import a PDF into Freeform, yes. Try it and you'll see.

[@Cat_lady04]

Mine doesn’t do this 😤

[@MarcP5267]

I’m having a hard time filling out a PDF form that I saved in iCloud Drive. Do you have tutorial on how to fill out a pdf from?

[@macmost]

What sort of problem are you having exactly? Maybe the form doesn't have fillable fields?

[@MarcP5267]

@@macmost I can easily fill in the same pdf via Google Drive. What’s happening with iCloud Drive is when I tap + then text then mark up a text box appears. I can’t click on a box to be filled out like Google Drive. How do I fill out each box in the pdf from iCloud?

[@macmost]

@@MarcP5267 Sounds like an issue with that particular PDF? Every one is different. I can't help much without being able to play with it and see. So just experiment and try different things like maybe using markup to add text instead of filling out fields.

[@MarcP5267]

@@macmost ok I played around filling out a couple of pdf I saved in iCloud Drive. The experience s*cks. The same pdf in Google Drive not even close better experience.

[@sarahwagner2998]

This was great! Is there an easy way to change a PDF to a JPG?

[@macmost]

On an iPhone? The only way I can think of is to install a graphics app that can open PDF files. What's your use case?

[@sarahwagner2998]

@@macmost ok, this is what I was thinking, but thought I would check. I'm sure there will be several apps to research that can do just this. Thank you for your time!

[@monizfilms]

Hi Gary, I have a government document on my MacBook Air that says to digitally sign the form you must first complete it and then select print to PDF. This will create a new version of the form that can be digitally signed, but the option to print to PDF does not seem to exist on my MacBook Air.

[@macmost]

Yes, it does. File, Print. Then click the PDF button at the bottom.

[@monizfilms]

@@macmost thanks Gary, why is it some PDF documents not able to open up in Preview but they open in Adobe Acrobat?

[@monizfilms]

@@macmost When I click on PDF this is the message that I get "Saving a PDF file when printing is not supported. Instead, choose File > Save."

[@macmost]

@@monizfilms I haven't run into any. What happens when you try those? Are they from a particular source?

[@macmost]

@@monizfilms Is that PDF protected?

[@anindyabhattacharya2001]

Thank you so much sir for such an useful video. I have one question: How to compress the size of a pdf?

[@macmost]

See kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWmnYYibnrx3bpY but note that you can only compress a PDF if there is data in it that can withstand compression. For instance, if there are images, but the images are already well-compressed then compressing again won't do much.

[@anindyabhattacharya2001]

@@macmost Thank you sir for your kind reply. That’s a really helpful video. But now being a student, I don’t have a Mac. I have iPad only. So any way for compressing PDF in iPad?

[@macmost]

@@anindyabhattacharya2001 What's your situation? Which app are you using to create the PDF and what is contained in it?

[@anindyabhattacharya2001]

@@macmost sir I use Adobe Scan to take photos of documents and GoodNotes 5 to annotate those photos, screenshots, online pdf books & there’s obviously Digitally handwritten notes… Compression is needed especially for sending the pdf to professors via mail attachments.

[@macmost]

@@anindyabhattacharya2001 GoodNotes is letting you place notes on top of the images. That's fine and accomplishes what you want. But I Books, I assume, is focused on annotating the text itself. File size is always going to be an issue for you since you have large scanned images in your PDFs. Instead of emailing them, share them online. You can use iCloud Drive or any cloud service. Then email them a link. I wouldn't be surprised if in a school setting there wasn't already a standard way to share files without emailing them. So inquire about that.

[@hritiksingh8592]

Often when I highlight or write something on pdf it refreshes automatically and my work disappear can you suggest something

[@macmost]

Sorry, I don't know why it would do that. Perhaps you are accidentally pressing a button or clicking something?

[@hritiksingh8592]

@@macmost not pressing any button..but my ipad9 struggles to open pdf of over 9-10 MB may be due to that it happens

[@faisal6599]

in my iPad when I click the file it opens google chrome I do not know what the problem, can you help me

[@macmost]

What file? What do you mean?

[@faisal6599]

@@macmost a file with pdf format, in “Files” app

[@macmost]

@@faisal6599 Not sure what could be going on there. If I tap once on a pdf file in the Files app I can view it. It doesn't open Chrome.

[@faisal6599]

@@macmost Yeah I saw that in my friend’s iPad, so I was thinking if it is just a settings problem, and I searched and found nothing unfortunately.

[@Greg-fg1rd]

Anyone know what I did? My You Tube video is now larger and in the center of the page. It used to be a little smaller and to the left, with other video choices stacked on the right side. Been clicking buttons like crazy and it hasn't come back yet.

[@macmost]

Sounds like KZbin theater mode. Along the bottom there is a button that toggles between theater and default mode.

[@Greg-fg1rd]

@@macmost yeah. You'd think. Keep clicking that for two days, but no luck.

[@macmost]

@@Greg-fg1rd Maybe you've shrunk the window horizontally too much so it changes layouts?

[@Greg-fg1rd]

@@macmost Maybe. This is the third time it happened to me in like 4 months. No idea why it stops, or stops. Any idea how change the dimensions? I've tried a lot of buttons...lol

[@LiveLifeHonestly]

Thank you for sharing this pdf tutorial video. Is there a way to flatten any mark up pdf on iPad or iPhone?

[@macmost]

Not sure what you mean by "flatten." You can markup a PDF on iOS or iPadOS. Just view the PDF in the Files app and you can use the markup tools there like I show here.

[@LiveLifeHonestly]

By flatten, I mean making all my inputted text annotations embedded into the pdf form so the pdf form cannot be edited. When I add on some text on the pdf form, the text is not shown in Docusign unless the pdf form is flattened with the added text embedded into the pdf form. iPad if I remembered correctly used to allow the pdf flattening feature by holding down the print button and going to share file, and save to file. Now it doesn’t work anymore.

[@macmost]

@@LiveLifeHonestly Not sure if this is the best way to do it, but you can Print, then in the Print screen zoom in on the preview (pinch out with two fingers). Then Share from there (save a file, etc) and it should be flattened.

[@LiveLifeHonestly]

OK thank you and I’ll give this a try and see if it will work. 🤞

[@LiveLifeHonestly]

I somehow can’t get to view the share then save to file part. I selected print, then pinch zoom on the preview thumbnail image and this where the share doesn’t show up. Any ideas what could be wrong? I am using a iPad Pro.

[@santisoler1950]

My question is, why does apple not give rhe option to just add it to the folders app directly? It does not make any sense. Greats video by the wah, would not have been able to add it if it wasn’t for you.

[@macmost]

Not sure what you mean. You can add PDF files to the Files app (I assume) directly. Not sure what situation you are talking about here.

[@user-se8yn8nl8s]

After saving a pdf in files when I try to open it I get a message ‘file format is invalid’. Help!

[@macmost]

Which app is it attempting to open it with? Do other PDFs work?

[@user-se8yn8nl8s]

@@macmost I can’t open any downloads but just realized they are all in ‘pages’. When I go to ‘files’ it opens . Sorry, im just an idiot😩. Thanks for your help.

[@deloriswathen6183]

My contacts are all gone and I didn’t delete them. Are they in my phone another place

[@macmost]

Perhaps? Maybe you just turned off Contacts for the account where they were stored. Like you had them stored in iCloud but you turned off Contacts for iCloud. Same for Google or another service. Or, maybe you are just not looking at the right thing in the Contacts app.

[@YallaBilal]

Great video, but I have a shorter way for creating a PDF. After you tap on the share button on 1:25 don’t tap on print. Instead tap on the blue Options button on the top of the screen. Here you can choose PDF and save directly to Files.

[@macmost]

That works in Safari, and perhaps some other apps. But it doesn't work in all apps because many don't give you that Options link.

[@kailu3026]

One question if it’s possible to bookmark a page.

[@macmost]

I think you'll need to find a PDF viewing app that has that feature specifically.

[@kailu3026]

@@macmost thanks for answering

[@anubispoiu]

Wait, there is supposed to be a “files” app on my iPad? How do I find it…?

[@macmost]

If you don't see it on your Home Screen, then go to the last screen and search for it. If you have removed it, then add it back from the App Store.

[@yumi40717]

Thank you very useful.. even my 1% brain could get it..

[@Cukito4]

What I find weird, as a Windows user, is that you can't use Books to look up the file (any pdf) on my iPad, then open it. What I am forced to do is, look up the file, "Share" it with Books, THEN open it with Books.

[@eduartificalintelligence50]

🎉

[@TheCarnivalguy]

One thing I found out after my first time using PDF Expert on my iPad is you can’t even add one blank page without buying the premium edition. That pop up gets ya every time. LOL Not really sure about trying it FREE (there’s that word that sucks you in again 😉) and then finding out it’s a bitch to cancel. Just one friggin page smh

[@IRVremy]

What I will never understand is why apple never boasts these simple features that many people would use.

[@InstigatorDJ]

Chances are if you own a Mac you KNOW how to work with PDF's, whats next copying and pasting?

[@macmost]

Actually, "how do I copy and paste" is one of the top Mac searches on KZbin. So.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIq2eKCIgNGFfKM

[@tjmul3381]

Please change the title of your video to exclude the word iPad for these instructions do not work on an iPad as they do on your iPhone. Thank you

[@macmost]

How so? What, specifically, isn't working for you?

[@hectortroy4750]

First !!!