How to merge two pdf files in OSX

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Thanks so much. Your explanation is brilliant. Easy to follow. Better than apple support itself. :)

OS X comes with a free application called ‘Preview’ that will open automatically whenever you click on a pdf file. Preview can edit and merge pdf files but the official Apple instructions are not quite right. Here’s how to do it depending on which version of OS X that you have.

Preview app
You can merge PDF files using the built in ‘Preview’ application that comes for free with OSX, you don’t need 3rd party paid software.

The basic concept for merging 2 pdf files is the same for whatever version of OS X you have. You open the first file, view the page thumbnails, then drag the second file into the first file and save the new file.  Exactly how this works varies depending on which version of OS X that you have. Apple have changed the details a few times. Sometimes there’s a green plus sign to indicate the merge. Sometimes there’s a grey border. If you don’t get it right the 2 files will not merge.  You need to read the directions for the exact OS version that you have. (To find out which version of OS X you have just go to the Apple Menu and click ‘about this mac.’)

Please click on the version of OS X that you have to find out how to merge a pdf file:

How to merge PDF files in High Sierra (10.13)  (2018)

How to merge PDF files in El Capitan (10.11) (2015)

How to merge PDF files in Yosemite (10.10) (2014)

How to merge PDF files in Mavericks 10.9 (2013)

How to merge PDF files in Mountain Lion 10.8 (2012)

For all versions of OS X prior to Mountain Lion (10.7 and earlier)  just follow the instructions below.

Here’s how to  join two or more pdf files together using Preview in OS X 10.7 and earlier:

1 Open the pdf file in preview.

2. Open the thumbnail view (Shift-⌘-D)

3. Drag a second pdf ON TOP OF an existing page  thumbnail.

When you drag in step 3 it must drag to on top of the thumbnail, as in over it, not above it.

This is a bit hard to explain, the best way to grasp the concept is to look at the pictures below. Can you notice that the thumbnail on the right has an extra grey border compared to the thumbnail on the left. The grey border indicates that the files are merging.

WRONG WAY: If you drag the new pdf file underneath the existing pdf they are not merged.
RIGHT WAY: Drag the new pdf file overlapping an the existing page and they will merge into one – creating one pdf document out of the two. (Notice the extra grey border compared to the left photo.)

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SUMMARY: To combine two separate PDF files into one document you need to drag the new pdf ON TOP OF an existing  thumbnail until the grey border appears – then it will merge the two pdfs together.  (You can then save the new merged pdf.) 

If you drag it into the sidebar but not on top of an existing page the new file will be added as an external link – not merged into the original pdf document.

Published Date:Last Updated: Dec 2017.

Read on for how to do it step by step.

Written by Wayne Connor
Mac user since 1996
Helping people master their Macs since 2005

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585 responses to “How to merge two pdf files in OSX”

  1. John

    Here’s a challenge for some brave soul. I am trying to combine PDF text files and am encountering difficulties with the search function once I have saved the new, larger file. Upon putting two pdf’s together, I can search them and there’s no issue. After saving the file however, the search function is lost (or, to be more specific, goes awry: for example, I’ll type in an “m” and it highlights “t”s instead). Why the search function should be lost after saving is a total mystery to me. Any thoughts/suggestions?

    Reply
  2. John

    In my last point, immediately above, I meant the “Search” function.

    Reply
  3. Jordan

    Simon, thanks for your comment; didn’t work for me until I did the “insert blank page” as you suggested.

    Reply
  4. JoeLee

    I am using Snow Leopard, and can combine pdf’s to view, but whenever I save and re-open – only the original page will show. I have tried the tips above, once I close it after saving I am lost what I have added.
    Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Dean

    I am experiencing the same problem as John. I am combining multiple pdf’s all of which are searchable in the Acrobat Reader. After I combine all of the files with Preview, the merged document is no longer searchable. The Acrobat Reader always returns the “no match found” message. Any thoughts?

    Reply
  6. washtook

    This does work. If you want to combine multiple images into one document;
    1. Open 1st image.
    2. Save as PDF
    3 Drag 2nd image onto 1st image in drawer.
    4 repeat with all images and the save.

    Reply
  7. Aman

    Awesome! Almost there…only one problem after combining PDF’s the the first PDF shrank..then if I zoom in on the first one the following PDF’s become oversized! Not sure how to solve the problem. Any help would be much appreciated!! Thanks

    Reply
  8. Steve

    Wayne, you’re a genius. Thanks for sharing this tip. I was trying to work this out this afternoon, searched on Google and you were first! Nice work on the search rankings!

    Reply
  9. admin

    Thanks Steve!

    Reply
  10. donna

    I find I can only search and annotate the first part of the document – but not the added sections. Any ideas?

    Reply
  11. Rhonda

    Thank you! This saved me so much time! I learned that I have to be in “thumbnails” view and not “table of contents”.

    Reply
  12. Joe

    I have the same problem as Anon. The pdf page I insert is a different “size.” I have to zoom onto the other pdf pages. Any thoughts?

    Reply
  13. Thankful

    Thanks so much! Appreciate the article :)

    Reply
  14. Manu

    Thanks so much for your help. Mac is definitely a better world !

    Reply
  15. zack

    I added my pdf files to the side bar, but at the end i can;t save it. when i try to save it … there is only “Save As” option and tht saves only single page not the whole document… please help me!

    Reply
    1. tingda

      I have the same problem, can anyone help?

      Reply
  16. SRP

    Awesome tip – thanks! I used to use PDFLab to do this but now it crashes every time I try. Don’t need it any more!

    Reply
  17. Adam

    Thanks for this tip. You explained it in a very clear way and it worked on the first attempt.

    What this really points out, though, is that Preview is a very capable little program that doesn’t get enough credit or use from a huge number of mac users. I’d love to hear more tips for using it.

    Reply
    1. admin

      It sure is!
      It also comes in handy to convert between formats. You can open a PDF and then save it as a JPEG or vice versa!

      Reply
  18. Halie

    The ability to merge PDF Files built in. It’s good to own a MAC!!

    Reply
  19. Michael

    For JOE and others struggling with DIFFERENTLY SIZED pdfs/images needing to be merged……

    Use the instructions above to merge/rearrange the files….. then go to PRINT and in the page set up select the correct orientation for your files and select “scale each page to fit paper”…. this will make everything letter size (or whatever paper you have…..

    This worked for me to mix a word doc title page, with other random sized photoshop files…..

    only works for reducing big files though… haven’t worked out how to increase sizes if necessary….

    Reply
  20. AlvaroJL

    YES!!! So darn easy!
    And ot think I was thinking of downloading a program,etc. etc.
    We sometimes forget how simple Apple makes things for us!

    Reply
  21. Lisa

    Thank goodness there are clear, concise instructions for techno numpties like me. Knew apple would have a way!!!

    Reply
  22. domenica

    this is great … only: I am unable to merge pdfs that I have produced from word myself. I can only merge the pdfs I had scanned on a pc system. any ideas, any one?

    Reply
  23. Elizabeth

    I can drag all my files into the sidebar as explained, but when I save it, only the original document is there. I see others had this problem too. Has anyone figured out how to deal with this situation?

    Reply
  24. visitor

    thank u very much

    Reply
  25. peter

    @Elizabeth. You have to drag it onto the first page, not just into the sidebar. Thanks a lot for the article, I had this problem as well, as it changed from leopard.

    Reply
  26. jeff

    This is a lifesaving tip — I was going crazy trying to get Word (Mac or PC) to produce a PDF for my wife’s thesis. The Word on Windows was producing PDFs with fonts incorrectly rendered (in some places) in Preview but not Acrobat Reader. The Mac Word was producing a PDF file for each section (due to page orientation changes). The last straw was when the trial version of Acrobat crashed my Windows machine, or at least is taking more than 18 hours to format the PDF. I was going crazy… thank you. With this tip I was able to do it all on a Mac.
    One note is that the resulting PDF is 12x the sum of the individual file sizes. Not a problem in itself (it becomes 12MB instead of 1) but makes me a bit nervous. Some black magic in there somewhere.

    Reply
  27. Beth

    Yes! Thank you. This help was great. My file was too big for E-mail and I had 16 pages that showed as individual PDF documents for iDisk. Now I have one document with 16 pages that I can send as one link.

    Reply
  28. Amit

    Super. Very helpful thanks,

    Reply
  29. VCM

    Man, did I waste time to find a free app that does this job. Excellent! For search engines: join pdf, merge pdf

    Reply
  30. Seth

    How do you change from table of contents view to thumbnails view in the sidebar?

    Reply

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