How to Edit PDFs Using Preview on Mac

Learn to edit PDFs in Preview on Mac. Add text, highlight, annotate, crop pages, and make changes without third-party software using built-in tools.

1. Open your PDF in Preview. Double-click the PDF file in Finder to open it in Preview, or right-click the file and select Open With > Preview. If Preview isn't the default PDF viewer, this ensures the file opens in the correct application.
2. Access the markup toolbar. Click the Markup Toolbar button (pencil tip icon) in the top-right corner of the Preview window, or press Shift+Command+A. This reveals editing tools including text boxes, shapes, highlights, and annotation options.
3. Add text to your PDF. Click the Text button (T icon) in the markup toolbar, then click anywhere on the PDF page where you want to add text. Type your text and use the formatting options that appear to change font, size, and color.
4. Highlight and annotate text. Select existing text by clicking and dragging across it, then choose a highlight color from the markup toolbar. Add notes by clicking the Note button and placing sticky note annotations anywhere on the page.
5. Crop and resize pages. Select Tools > Rectangular Selection from the menu bar, then drag to select the area you want to keep. Press Command+K to crop to the selection, or choose Tools > Crop to remove everything outside the selected area.
6. Rearrange and delete pages. Open the sidebar by clicking View > Thumbnails or pressing Option+Command+2. Drag page thumbnails to reorder them, or select pages and press Delete to remove them from the document.
7. Save your edited PDF. Press Command+S to save changes to the original file, or choose File > Export As PDF to create a new file with your edits. The Export option preserves the original while creating an edited copy.