Managing PDF documents is a daily requirement for office workers, students, and developers alike. Whether you need to combine invoice attachments into a single report, or extract specific pages from a textbook, splitting and merging PDFs is essential.
In this guide, we walk you through how to do both operations securely on your computer without installing heavy desktop software or uploading sensitive documents to the cloud.
Part 1: How to Merge Multiple PDFs into One
Merging PDFs is useful when you have multiple single-page scans or distinct chapters that you want to combine.
Step 1: Open the PDF Merger Tool
Navigate to the PDF Merger Tool on FreeUtilityApps.
Step 2: Choose Your Files
- Click the Choose Files button or drag-and-drop your PDF files directly into the upload zone.
- You can upload multiple files at once. The tool will calculate the total size and file count instantly.
Step 3: Verify and Reorder
- Review the uploaded files list.
- (Coming Soon) You can reorder files to ensure they appear in the correct sequence. For now, upload them in the order you’d like them to merge.
Step 4: Click Merge
- Click the Merge Files button.
- The tool uses a client-side JavaScript engine (
pdf-lib) to extract and combine the pages locally.
Step 5: Save the Merged Document
- A file named
merged.pdfwill download automatically. - Click the Download Merged PDF button in the result panel if the automatic download didn’t start.
Part 2: How to Split a PDF or Extract Pages
Splitting is useful when a PDF is too large, or you only need a subset of pages.
Step 1: Open the PDF Splitter Tool
Navigate to the PDF Splitter Tool on FreeUtilityApps.
Step 2: Upload Your File
- Click Choose Files and upload the PDF you want to split.
Step 3: Choose Your Split Mode
Our splitter offers three distinct modes:
- Split every page: Divides a 5-page PDF into 5 individual single-page PDF files.
- Split by page ranges: Allows custom ranges. For example, entering
1-3, 4-5will produce two PDFs—one containing pages 1 to 3, and another containing pages 4 and 5. - Split into N equal parts: Automatically divides the pages into equal portions (e.g., dividing a 10-page document into 2 parts of 5 pages each).
Step 4: Click Split
- Press Split Files.
- The script processes the file, separates the specified page groups, and outputs the new documents.
Step 5: Download Results
- The output files will be downloaded automatically as individual PDFs.
- A neat list of download links is displayed in the result area, allowing you to re-download any part.
Why Use Local Tools Over Adobe Acrobat?
While Adobe Acrobat is the industry standard, it requires a paid license for splitting and merging. On the other hand, traditional free online editors upload your files to external cloud servers, exposing you to privacy risks.
Using local browser-based utility tools gives you the best of both worlds: 100% free premium features combined with absolute document security.