How to edit a PDF without Adobe Acrobat

Updated 3 October 2026 · By the ShushPDF team · 2 min read

Adobe Acrobat is powerful, but you do not need a subscription for most everyday edits. Here is what you can do for free, and one thing to understand about PDFs first.

Why PDFs are hard to "edit"

A PDF is designed to look the same everywhere, like a printed page. It does not store paragraphs the way a Word document does, so changing a sentence in the middle and having the rest of the page move along is not really how PDFs work. The practical way to change a PDF is to add things on top of the page, and to cover what you want to replace.

What you can do with Edit PDF

• Add text anywhere with Text. Change its size and colour from the small toolbar that appears.
• Fix a mistake: cover the wrong words with White-out, then type the correct words on top.
• Add a picture or logo with Image, then drag and resize it.
• Hide private details with Hide, as a black box or blur. Unlike a plain black rectangle, this really removes what is underneath.
• Sign, add ticks and the date.
• Add a new page at the end for extra notes.

Step by step: correcting a word

1. Open Edit PDF and choose your file.
2. Tap White-out and tap on the wrong word. Drag the corner dot until it is fully covered.
3. Tap Text, tap on the white area and type the correct word. Use A− and A+ to match the size of the text around it.
4. Tap Download.

Other free options

• Microsoft Edge has a built-in PDF viewer that can add text and drawings.
• Preview on a Mac can add text, shapes and signatures.
• To rewrite whole paragraphs, it is often easier to edit the original Word or Google Docs file, if you have it, and save it as a new PDF.

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