Knowing how to edit a PDF on Windows is easy when you know which apps to use. Whether you want to change the text or add annotations and comments, we're going to show you several ways to do it.
Edit PDFs With Microsoft Word
One of the easiest ways to edit a PDF is to use Microsoft Word. This will convert the PDF into a Word document, allowing you to freely edit it. However, you can't edit PDFs if you don't have a Microsoft 365 subscription or haven't purchased a product key.
Some PDFs don't have editable text—for example, those converted from images. If the PDF's text is not clickable, you can't edit it.
To edit a PDF in Word, open the app, click Open in the left-side menu, and find the PDF you want to edit.
You will then see a prompt telling you that Word wants to convert the PDF into an editable document. Click OK to start editing the PDF.
After you're done, click File > Save or press Ctrl + S to save the PDF. Remember, it was converted to a Word document, meaning Word will attempt to save it as that. So, in the Save As window, click the Save As Type dropdown, and select PDF.
Now you can click Save to save the edited document as a PDF again.
Edit PDFs With Microsoft Edge
You can also edit the PDF in Microsoft Edge. However, unlike Word, where you can edit almost every aspect, you're limited to things like adding text, highlighting text, commenting, and annotating the PDF file.
To start, import the PDF in Edge by launching the browser, and then dragging and dropping the PDF into it. Once imported, you can use the tools on the left side of the top menu to draw or add text.
You can also select text and choose to add a comment to it or highlight it with a color.
After you're done, press Ctrl + S or click Save (the floppy disk icon) on the left side of the top menu to save the edited PDF.
You can also edit a PDF in Firefox by dragging and dropping it in the browser, doing your edits, and saving the edited version. If you're using Chrome, you'll need to use the Adobe Acrobat browser extension. However, Edge is the easiest to get started with since it comes preinstalled with Windows.
Edit PDFs With PDFgear
Windows has free and dedicated PDF editing tools. These will allow you to edit almost every part of the PDF without needing to convert it to text. One of the easiest to use is called PDFgear.
You'll need a dedicated PDF editor if you want to use rare fonts or remove passwords from PDFs.
To start, download and install PDFgear on your computer. Afterward, open PDFgear, click Open File in the left-side menu and select the PDF file you want to edit.
Click Edit in the top menu and select Edit Text in the menu below. This will make the text in the PDF editable objects.
You can, for instance, add and delete text or change the font color and size. When you're done editing, click Exit Editing at the top. In the popup asking you to save the changes, click Yes.
Then, press Ctrl + S to save the PDF or click the save icon in the top-left corner.
You can do more than just edit text with PDFgear. You can also add annotations, watermarks, images, and signatures. You can even make the PDF secure by adding a password to it.
Now that you know how to edit PDF file on Windows, you should be able to fix or add anything to it. You can, for example, fix a mistake on an invoice, add comments to a business proposal, or annotate steps and processes. But keep in mind that the methods we've covered are only a few of the many ways to edit a PDF.