PDF Tower

How to Edit a PDF on iPhone

Open the PDF in Safari, right on this page. Retype a paragraph, add text, a signature or an image, or white out a mistake. The file stays on your iPhone.

Runs on your device. Your file is not uploaded.

Free to open, fill and preview. Downloading the result needs PDF Tower: $89.99 a year or $12.49 a month. See pricing

How to edit a PDF on iPhone

  1. Open this page in Safari on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Choose a PDF and pick the file from your iPhone or iCloud Drive. If the PDF is an email attachment, tap it, tap Share, then Save to Files first.
  3. To change words that are already in the PDF, tap Edit text, then tap the paragraph. Type the new wording and tap Replace text.
  4. To add words, tap Text, then tap the page where they go. Drag to move the box.
  5. Tap Sign for a signature, Image for a JPG or PNG picture, or White-out to cover a mistake.
  6. Tap Download. Safari saves the PDF to the Downloads folder in the Files app. Or tap Share, then Save to Files, Mail or Messages.

The free way: Markup in the Files app

Your iPhone has free tools built in. Open the PDF in the Files app and use Markup to add text, drawings and a signature on top of the page. For many small edits, that is all you need.

When PDF Tower helps

  • Change the PDF's own words: Edit text retypes a paragraph in place. The new text keeps the paragraph's place, width, size and colour.
  • Fix a typo cleanly: White-out covers the mistake, and you type the correction on top.
  • Fill and sign in one pass: form fields, dates, check marks, initials and a signature, all in the same file.
  • A clean download: everything you add is drawn into the page when you save.
  • Private: the PDF opens in Safari on your iPhone and is never uploaded.

Good to know

  • Edit text works on paragraphs of Latin-alphabet text that are part of the PDF. Scans and some complex layouts can't be retyped. Add text on top instead.
  • White-out hides what is under it, but the original text is still inside the file. To remove private information, use Redact PDF (PDF Tower Pro).
  • PDF Tower runs in Safari. There is no app to install.

What's free and what's paid

Opening a PDF, filling it on screen and the live preview are free, with no account. Downloading, printing or sharing the filled, signed or edited file needs a plan: PDF Tower is $89.99 a year or $12.49 a month, and the monthly plan cancels anytime. Compare plans

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