Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. All 33 PDF tools on PDFChai are free to use. There are no paid plans, no premium version, no credits and no daily task limits set by us, and we never add a watermark to your files.

The site is kept free by Google AdSense ads shown around the tools. You never pay to merge, compress, convert, edit, sign or protect a PDF.

No. PDFChai has no user accounts at all, so there is nothing to sign up for and no login screen. Open any tool, add your file and download the result.

We never ask for your name or email address to use a tool.

PDFChai is one PDF suite with 33 free tools in six groups:

• Organize PDF: Merge PDF, Split PDF, Remove Pages, Extract Pages, Organize PDF, Scan to PDF
• Optimize PDF: Compress PDF, Repair PDF, OCR PDF
• Convert to PDF: JPG to PDF, Word to PDF, Excel to PDF, PowerPoint to PDF, HTML to PDF
• Convert from PDF: PDF to JPG, PDF to PNG, PDF to Word, PDF to Excel, PDF to PowerPoint, PDF to Text, PDF to Markdown, PDF to PDF/A
• Edit PDF: Edit PDF, Fill PDF Form, Rotate PDF, Add Page Numbers, Add Watermark, Crop PDF
• PDF Security: Protect PDF, Unlock PDF, Sign PDF, Redact PDF, Compare PDF

Every tool is listed on our homepage.

No. PDFChai works in any modern web browser, including Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone and iPad. There is nothing to download or install.

The tools are responsive, so you can merge, compress or sign a PDF from your phone just as you would on a computer. For very large files, a computer usually works faster because it has more memory.

We don't set any limits. There is no cap on file size, page count, number of files or how many times a day you use a tool.

Because the work happens on your own device, the practical limit is your device's memory. Very large files, such as hundreds of megabytes or thousands of pages, can be slow or may not finish on a phone or an older computer. If that happens, try a computer with more memory, or split the file into smaller parts first.

Ads are how PDFChai stays free. Instead of charging you or putting tools behind a paid plan, we show Google AdSense ads on the pages.

Ads never touch your files: your PDFs are processed in your browser and are not shared with advertisers. Ads are served by Google, and PDFChai does not choose individual ads or endorse the products they show.

You can reach us in two ways:

• Email us at support@debugspot.com
• Use the Contact Us form on our website

We typically respond within 24–48 hours. Bug reports, tool suggestions and feedback are always welcome. Please don't send us confidential documents: the tool name, your browser and a short description of the problem are usually enough.

For step-by-step guides on working with PDFs, visit the PDFChai blog.

PDFChai is an independent project built and maintained by one person based in GJ, IN. It is not a large company. It is a small, focused project built to give everyone free PDF tools that respect their privacy.

No. Every PDFChai tool runs inside your browser. When you open a tool, your browser downloads the tool's code, which is built on open-source libraries such as pdf.js, pdf-lib and qpdf compiled to WebAssembly. Your PDF is then read, processed and saved on your own device. The file itself is never uploaded to our server or anyone else's.

Because we never receive your files, there is nothing for us to store, view or delete. You can check this yourself by opening the Network panel in your browser's DevTools while you use a tool: no request carries your file.

Yes. Contracts, bank statements, ID scans, medical letters and similar files never leave your device, so nobody at PDFChai can see them.

A few common-sense tips still help: on a shared or public computer, delete the downloaded files when you are done and close the browser tab, and keep a copy of your original before you edit or compress it.

It stays on your device. The password is used only inside your browser to encrypt or decrypt the file, and it is never sent to our server, saved or logged.

This also means we cannot recover a password for you. If you protect a PDF, store the password somewhere safe.

Protect PDF encrypts your file with AES-256, the strongest encryption the PDF format supports, using qpdf compiled to WebAssembly. Anyone who opens the file must enter the password, in any modern PDF reader.

The protection is only as strong as the password you choose. Use a long password that is hard to guess, and share it separately from the file, for example by phone instead of in the same email.

No. Unlock PDF removes a password that you already know from your own PDF, so you don't have to type it every time you open the file. You enter the password, and the tool saves an unprotected copy.

It does not crack, guess or bypass passwords. If you have lost the password to a file, contact the person or organisation that created it.

We never collect your files or what is in them. The only personal information we receive is what you choose to send us through the contact form, such as your name and email address.

The site uses cookies from two Google services:

• Google Analytics to understand how many people visit and which tools they use
• Google AdSense to show the ads that keep PDFChai free

When you first visit, the cookie banner lets you accept all cookies, allow only necessary ones, or choose your preferences. You can opt out of personalised ads at any time in Google Ads Settings or at optout.aboutads.info. Read our Privacy Policy for full details.

No. PDFChai does not sell, rent or trade personal data to anyone. We never have your files in the first place.

If you sent us details through the contact form and want them deleted, email support@debugspot.com and we will process your request within 30 days.

Open Merge PDF, add your files or drag and drop them, drag the files into the order you want, then merge and download the combined PDF.

You can merge as many files as your device can comfortably handle. Everything happens in your browser, so even private documents stay on your device.

Use Split PDF. You can:

• Enter a page range such as 1-3,7,9-12 to pull those pages into a new PDF
• Pick pages visually from thumbnails
• Split every page into its own PDF and download them together as a ZIP file

• Split PDF creates new, separate PDFs from parts of your file.
• Remove Pages deletes the pages you don't need and gives you back one PDF with the rest.
• Organize PDF shows every page as a thumbnail so you can reorder, rotate, delete and add pages with drag and drop, then save one rearranged PDF.

If you only want to reorder pages, Organize PDF is the quickest choice.

No. Merge PDF, Split PDF, Remove Pages and Organize PDF copy your existing pages into the new file as they are. Text stays sharp and selectable, and images are not recompressed.

Only Compress PDF deliberately reduces image quality to make a file smaller.

It depends on what is inside the PDF. Scanned documents and files full of photos usually shrink the most. PDFs that are mostly plain text are already compact and may shrink very little.

Compress PDF offers three levels: Low keeps near-original quality, Medium balances size and quality and suits email and upload forms, and High gives the smallest file with softer images. The tool shows you the new size before you download, so you can try another level if needed.

Compress PDF rebuilds each page as an optimised image at the level you choose. Text stays readable, but in the compressed copy it can no longer be selected, searched or copied, and links or fillable form fields are not kept.

Keep your original file if you will need to copy text or fill in forms later. For sharing, uploading and emailing, the compressed copy is usually all you need.

Often, yes. Repair PDF reads the damaged file in your browser and rebuilds its internal structure, which fixes many PDFs that show "file is damaged" or "cannot be opened" errors.

Repair can only work with the data that is still in the file. If a download was cut off halfway, the missing pages cannot be recreated, but the pages that are there may still be saved.

This happens with PDFs that are already well optimised, especially text-only documents. Because Compress PDF turns each page into an image, a page of plain text can end up larger as an image than it was as text.

If the compressed file isn't smaller, just keep your original: it is already about as compact as it gets. Compression helps most with scans and photo-heavy files.

Open JPG to PDF and add one or more JPG or PNG images. Each image becomes a page. You can move images up or down to set the order, remove any you don't want, and choose A4 portrait, A4 landscape or a page that fits each image, with an optional margin.

WebP, GIF, BMP and other formats your browser can open are converted automatically. iPhone HEIC photos may not open in every browser; if one is rejected, export it as JPG first. This is a quick way to turn phone photos of receipts, notes or signed forms into a single PDF.

Yes. Word to PDF converts modern .docx files in your browser and keeps headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, links and images. The older binary .doc format is not supported. To convert a .doc file, open it in Word, LibreOffice or Google Docs and save it as .docx first.

Complex layouts, such as text boxes, multiple columns or detailed headers and footers, may shift slightly, because the document is rebuilt for the PDF rather than printed by Word itself.

Use PDF to JPG or PDF to PNG. Each page is turned into a separate image that you can download.

• JPG gives smaller files and suits photos and scanned pages.
• PNG is lossless, so it keeps text, line drawings and diagrams perfectly sharp, with larger files.

No. PDF to Word and PDF to Text work on text-based PDFs, the kind created from Word, a web page or another program. A scanned PDF is just pictures of pages, and turning those pictures back into text needs OCR (optical character recognition). Run it through OCR PDF first, then convert the searchable copy.

Quick test: open your PDF and try to select a word with your mouse. If you can highlight the text, the file is text-based and will convert. If you can't, it is a scan.

PDF to Word focuses on getting your text into an editable Word .docx file. Simple documents such as letters, essays and reports convert cleanly.

A PDF stores where each piece of text sits on the page rather than how a document flows, so complex layouts like multiple columns, detailed tables or text over images may need some tidying in Word after conversion. Always check the result before you send it on.

Use PDF to Text. It pulls the text out of every page so you can copy it to your clipboard or save it as a .txt file. Like PDF to Word, it works on text-based PDFs, not scans.

Edit PDF lets you add text, highlights, freehand drawing, shapes such as rectangles, ellipses, lines and arrows, check and cross marks, links and images, then download the edited PDF. It is handy for filling in forms that aren't fillable, marking up a document or adding a logo.

There is also an edit text mode for changing words that are already in a text-based PDF. It works best on simple layouts, and the replacement may not match the original font exactly.

Yes. Add Page Numbers numbers your pages with the position and style you choose. Add Watermark stamps text or an image, such as CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT or your logo, over your pages.

PDFChai never adds a watermark of its own. The only watermark on your file is one you add yourself.

Rotate PDF turns pages the right way up, one page at a time or all pages at once, and the rotation is saved in the file. Crop PDF trims margins or keeps just the area of the page you select.

If you need to rotate a few pages and reorder them as well, Organize PDF does both in one place.

Sign PDF lets you draw, type or upload your signature and place it on the page. It adds an image of your signature to the PDF, like signing a printed page. It is not a certificate-based digital signature that cryptographically proves who signed and that the file was not changed afterwards.

An image signature is often accepted for everyday documents such as forms, letters and simple agreements. Some legal, financial or government documents require a certified digital signature, so check with whoever asked you to sign if you are unsure.

If the PDF needs a password to open, unlock it first with Unlock PDF, which needs the password, then use the tool you wanted. Merge, Split and most other tools can't read the pages of a locked file.

If the file isn't password-protected but still won't load, it may be damaged. Run it through Repair PDF, then try again.

Files are processed in your device's memory, so very big or image-heavy PDFs can take a while. These steps usually help:

• Close other tabs and apps to free up memory
• Use a computer instead of a phone for very large files
• Split the PDF into smaller parts, process each part and merge them back
• Make sure your browser is up to date

PDFChai tools need JavaScript and a modern browser with WebAssembly support, which current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari all have. Try these steps:

• Refresh the page and wait for it to finish loading before adding a file
• Update your browser to the latest version
• Temporarily allow scripts for debugspot.com if a script-blocking or privacy extension is active
• Try a different browser

If it still doesn't work, email support@debugspot.com with the tool name, your browser and your device, and we'll take a look.

Your browser saves downloads to its usual download location, which is normally the Downloads folder on a computer. On an iPhone or iPad, look in the Files app, usually in the Downloads folder. On Android, check the Files or Downloads app.

Results are created on your device and are not kept on any server, so download your file before you close or refresh the tab.