Add Page Numbers

Insert page numbers your way.

Runs in your browser

Runs in your browser — your file never leaves your device.

Drop your PDF here, or browseOne PDF · numbers stamped locally in your browser

About this tool

Add page numbers right in your browser — preset or custom number formats, with position, starting value, and typography. The file stays on your device.

This tool processes files entirely on your device. Nothing is uploaded to a server.

More details

Add Page Numbers stamps a number onto every page of one PDF, or onto every page from a chosen page onward, and can leave a cover or the last pages without one. The format starts as "Page {n} of {total}", and a row of presets switches it with one click. You can also type your own template, where {n} becomes the page's number and {total} the last number printed, so "Exhibit A – {n}" works as well as a bare figure, and a Bates number style prints a prefix with a zero-padded number, such as ACME-000001. A Preview pill beside the Format heading shows the label the first numbered page will carry. For a document printed as a book, Facing pages swaps left and right on even pages so the number stays on the outer edge.

All of the numbering happens inside the open tab: your PDF is loaded from your device into memory, stamped with pdf-lib, and saved back to you, with no upload to pdf.xyz at any point. A file over 100 MB is refused as soon as you pick it, before any numbering starts. Plain Western labels use the font you pick, Helvetica, Times and Courier, all built into the PDF format; a label in another script the tool can draw pulls a matching typeface down from the pdf.xyz site, and only the font travels, never your document.

Page content, bookmarks, links and filled-in form fields come through; each number is drawn into the page as text, in a dark slate ink unless you pick another Color, at a Small, Medium or Large margin from the edge. Document properties keep their title and author, but the producer and creator fields now read pdf.xyz. Because the pages gain new content and the whole file is written out again, a digital signature already in it will no longer validate. On a page with a rotation flag, the number still lands at the edge you see and reads horizontally. A password-protected PDF is refused when you pick it and has to be unlocked first.

When to use it

Paginate a thesis or report after the front matter
Set Start on page to the first chapter so the title page, abstract and contents stay clean, and keep First number at 1 so chapter one opens on page 1.
Number a merged bundle before it goes out
After combining separate files with Merge PDF, one continuous sequence lets a reader say "see page 14" and mean the same page as everyone else on the call.
Label exhibits or a document production
The Bates number style, a prefix with a zero-padded number such as ACME-000001, and a First number that continues from the last batch give every page a unique, fixed-width reference.

What this tool can do

Formats: Presets “Page 1 of N”, “1 / N”, “1”, or “– 1 –” — or write your own template using {n} and {total}, where {n:6} pads the number with zeros to 6 digits.
Bates numbering: A Bates number style sets a prefix and a digit count, such as ACME-000001, counting on from First number so a new batch continues the last.
Placement: Any of 9 positions — each corner, the middle of each edge, or the center — at a Small, Medium or Large margin, mirrored on even pages for facing pages. On a rotated page the number still lands there and reads upright.
Numbering: Start on page skips earlier pages, such as a cover; First number sets the number counting starts from; Skip last pages leaves the end unnumbered.

How it works

1Choose a PDF
Drop a single PDF onto the dashed box or click browse. The settings then open under a bar giving that file's name, page count and size.
2Pick a format
Click a preset (Page 1 of N, 1 / N, 1 or - 1 -) or type into the Custom format field using {n} and {total}. For a Bates number, switch the Numbering style and fill in Prefix and Digits. The Preview pill follows each keystroke.
3Set placement
The number sits at Bottom center unless you click another of the 9 cells in the position grid. Start on page skips leading pages, First number sets the opening value, a slider sets Font size, and Margin moves it Small, Medium or Large from the edge. Pages, font and color holds the rest: Leave the cover unnumbered, Facing pages, Skip last pages, a Font choice and a Color picker; left closed, the numbers come out as they always have.
4Add page numbers
Press Add page numbers. When it finishes, a summary states how many pages received a number and the size of the new file.
5Download numbered PDF
Save the result; report.pdf comes back as report-numbered.pdf. To try different settings, press Back to adjust: the options come back as you left them, with the same file still loaded, and the next run makes a fresh copy.

Common questions

How do I start page numbers on page 2 or 3?

Set Start on page to the page that should carry the first number. Pages before it get no number, and numbering counts from First number on that page, so a document with a cover and a contents page can start at 1 on its third physical page.

What does {total} count when I skip the first pages?

It is the last number that will be printed, not the physical page count. With the default "Page {n} of {total}" template, a 10-page file numbered from page 3 with First number 1 reads "Page 1 of 8" through "Page 8 of 8"; the Preview pill uses the same arithmetic.

Can I do Bates numbering with this?

Yes. Pick Bates number as the Numbering style, type a Prefix such as ACME- and choose how many Digits the number has: with 6 digits the first page reads ACME-000001. Set First number to carry on from an earlier batch. In your own template, {n:6} pads the number the same way, from 1 to 12 digits; a number longer than the width is printed in full, never cut short. The number is drawn as real text, so it can be searched and copied.

Will the numbers cover text already on the page?

They can. The label is drawn over the page's existing content with no background box, so a page that already has a footer or a scanned image reaching the margin may overlap. Pick another of the 9 positions, another Margin (Small, Medium and Large are 18, 36 or 60 points from the edge) or a smaller font size and number the original again, not the numbered copy, or pages will carry two numbers.

Can I skip the last pages, or number a document printed as a book?

Both are under Pages, font and color. Skip last pages leaves the end without numbers, and those pages are not counted, so {total} stays the last number printed: a 12-page file with the last 2 skipped ends on "Page 10 of 10". Facing pages mirrors the position left to right on every even-numbered page of the file, the left-hand page of a printed spread, so a number at Bottom right sits bottom left on pages 2, 4, 6 and stays on the outer edge; a centered number does not move.

Which languages can a page-number label use?

A label can be written in Bengali, Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Devanagari, Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, Hangul and Han. Arabic and Hebrew labels are refused, because they would be laid out left to right and read backwards. If a character cannot be drawn, the tool stops with a message listing it instead of printing question marks or blanks. A label mixing two scripts that no single shipped font covers is refused as well, with a message naming both.

Does Add Page Numbers work offline?

Not fully. The page and its processing engine load over the network, and parts of the engine are fetched the first time a step needs them. The processing itself runs on your device. Drawing text in a script outside the Western European alphabet downloads a matching font from our site the first time it is needed, and that step needs a connection.

How large can my file be?

Up to 100 MB per file.

Can I leave the cover page unnumbered?

Yes. Set “Start on page” to the first page that should carry a number — the pages before it are left as they are — and “First number” to the number that page should show. {total} is the last number printed: “First number” plus the count of numbered pages, minus one. Set “First number” to the same value as “Start on page” and the cover is counted, so {total} is the document's full page count. Ticking “Leave the cover unnumbered” does the same for a one-page cover: page 1 is counted but carries no number.