Android OS doesn’t natively support editing PDFs. Learn about free and easy methods to edit PDFs on Android, with/without an app.
How to Edit a PDF on Android
Unlike iOS which offers built-in PDF markup features, the Android mobile operating system doesn’t natively support editing PDF files, thus you need a dedicated app or service for the job.
On this page, you’ll find some free and easy methods to effectively edit, annotate, fill out, and sign on PDFs on your Android phone or tablet. These tools are actually free so don’t hesitate to give them a whirl!
If you’re looking for pro-level PDF editing features, then a dedicated PDF editor is a choice.
There’s a plethora of so so-called PDF editors on the market, and it can be a challenging task to choose a trustworthy one.
That’s why I recommend PDFgear, a brand renowned for offering a genuinely free PDF editor.
PDFgear for Android is a free mobile app that allows you to write on, sign on, copy text using OCR, and fill out PDFs on the go.
Step 1. Download and install PDFgear in Google Play.
Open PDFgear on Android, tap on Files to import a PDF for editing, you can also import scanned documents from Photos.
Open PDF
Step 2. Once the PDF is loaded, tap the upper-right Edit button to start editing.
Tap Edit
Step 3. The PDF editor is in Annotation mode by default. Tap on the feature button on the menubar to highlight with customized color, underline, or strikethrough text in PDF.
Highlight Text
Step 4. Tap on the Pencil icon next to them to draw on the PDF with 120 colors.
Draw on PDF
Step 5. For more PDF editing features, tap on the mode switching button from the top to go to the Edit mode.
Go to Edit Mode
Step 6. PDFgear for Android app provides a unique feature to edit existing text in PDF using OCR.
In the Edit mode, you can tap on to copy/delete/replace the text in PDF.
Edit Existing Text
Step 7. To fill out the PDF form, tap on the Add Text button to insert text boxes, reposition it as desired, and type in the information.
Insert Text Box
Step 8. If you need to manage PDF pages, once again tap on the mode-switching button, and choose Organize.
Here you can freely reorder, delete, rotate, and insert PDF pages.
Rearrange PDF Pages
Step 9. When you’re done editing, tap on the upper-right triple dots to save the edited PDF on your device or share it with others.
Save and Share
To edit PDFs on Android for free without an app, the only way is to use an online PDF editor.
A highly recommended option is PDFgear, which offers a set of free online tools for you to edit, convert, sign on, fill out PDFs.
PDFgear online PDF editor is free to use, there’s no sign-up or any limitation, and it doesn’t have watermarks.
Step 1. Use any web browser on your phone to navigate to PDFgear online PDF editor.
PDF files on Android devices are typically found in the Documents folder, which is in the File Manager app.
Step 2. If the PDF is a fillable form, you can directly tap on fillable form fields and start inputting information.
If you don’t find any interactive fields, then the PDF is uneditable. No worries, the following steps will show you how to edit and fill out it.
Directly Fill out PDF
Step 3. Tap on the upper-right Add or Edit Annotations button to access the markup tools below.
For example, scroll right and tap on the pen tool, then you can freely draw on the PDF with desired colors.
Moreover, you’ll also find options to highlight/underline/strikethrough text, insert comments, add shapes, add stamps, etc. in the markup toolbox.
Draw on PDF
Step 4. To write on the PDF file, tap on the text box button on the markup toolbar, and then you can type in text with your preferred font.
Insert Text Box
Step 5. If you need to sign on the PDF file, tap on the signature button in the markup toolbar, and you can draw, type, or upload a signature image to sign on the document.
Sign on PDF
Step 6. When you’re done editing, tap on the upper-right triple dots and select Download to save the PDF on your Android device.
Download Edited PDF
PDF editing features are important factors to consider when choosing a PDF editor for Android, here is a glance into PDFgear’s key PDF editing features:
No, Android devices do not come with a built-in PDF editor. While you can view PDFs using the built-in Files app, editing requires third-party applications such as PDFgear, Adobe Acrobat, or Microsoft Word.
PDFgear also provides many free online PDF converters like PDF to Word, PDF to Excel, PDF to JPG, etc. You can find them in PDFgear online features.
Yes, you can annotate PDFs directly in Google Drive by opening the PDF file in the Google Drive app. This feature allows you to use various annotating tools such as markers and highlighters. However, full editing capabilities (like adding text) may be limited compared to dedicated PDF editors.
When selecting a PDF editor app for Android, consider the following features:
The PDFgear online tool requires an internet connection for functioning, while the PDFgear mobile app doesn’t.