How to Combine PDF Files on a Mac

Are your PDF pages scattered across several different files? Bring them all together by combining those pages or entire PDFs into one single PDF file. It’s actually easier to combine PDFs on macOS than you may think.

How to Combine PDF Files Using Preview

Unless you’ve installed another PDF reader, Preview is likely your default PDF reader. It's more than just a reader though: you can also use it to merge your PDF files.

You can combine individual pages as well as entire PDFs with one another using this built-in tool.

Combine One PDF File With Another PDF

If you want to merge two entire PDF files with one another, all you need to do is select the PDF that you want to add to the current PDF:

1. Open the first PDF you want to combine with Preview.
2. Click View and select Thumbnails to enable PDF thumbnails on the left.
3. Click the page you want to add your other PDF after on the left.
4. Select the Edit menu at the top and click Insert > Page from File.
5. Choose the other PDF you want to merge with the current one.
6. Your PDFs should now be merged. Click File > Export as PDF to save your new merged PDF.

Combine Pages of One PDF File With Another PDF File

If you’re only looking to add a few specific pages from one PDF to another, you can drag your pages from the other PDF onto the current one.

Here’s how:

1. Open both of your PDFs with Preview and ensure PDF thumbnails are enabled.
2. Select all of the pages that you want to add in your other PDF. Hold down the Cmd key to select multiple pages.
3. Drag all your selected pages from your secondary PDF over to the thumbnails section in the primary PDF.
4. Save your combined PDF by clicking File > Export as PDF.

How to Merge PDF Files Using PDF Expert

PDF Expert is a paid solution ($49.99) for working with PDF files on your Mac. The app actually offers many PDF editing features, so combining PDFs isn’t all you get for that price.

If you choose to use this app instead of Preview, here’s how you use it to combine multiple PDFs.

Combine Two PDFs

You can combine two of your PDFs using a single click option as follows:

1. Open your PDF with PDF Expert.
2. Click the Page thumbnails icon at the top-left corner.
3. Select Append file in the top toolbar.
4. Choose the PDF you want to merge.

Merge More Than Two PDFs

To combine more than two PDFs, put all your PDFs in a single folder and then follow these steps:

1. Open PDF Expert and click File > Merge Files.
2. Select all of your PDFs that you want to merge and click Merge.
3. Click the File menu and select Save As to save your merged PDF file.

Merge Specific Pages From One PDF With Another PDF

You can drag and drop pages across your PDFs to merge them in PDF Expert. Here’s how:

1. Open your PDF with PDF Expert, click the View settings icon at the top, and select Vertical under Split View.
2. Click Select File on the right pane and open your other PDF file.
3. Click the Page thumbnails icon at the top.
4. You can now drag pages from one PDF onto another.

How to Combine Two PDFs Using Smallpdf

Smallpdf ($84/year) is an online solution for editing and merging PDFs. This is a great option if you don't want to install an app just to combine PDFs once. Some features of this tool are free while others require a subscription, though there is a seven-day free trial.

Here’s how to use combine PDFs with Smallpdf:

1. Open the Smallpdf site, click Choose Files, and add your primary PDF.
2. When your PDF is uploaded, click either Merge files or Merge pages depending on what you want to do. Then, hit Choose Option.
3. Click Add More and add the secondary PDF that you want to merge with the primary one.
4. Click Merge PDF and the site will merge both of your files.
5. When your final PDF is ready, click Download to save the file to your computer.

Bringing Your Important PDF Pages Together

It’s time-consuming to open different PDFs to access the pages you need. If you do this too often, combine all your pages into one single PDF using the methods above. This way, you’ll only have one PDF to open to access all your content.

Your Mac lets you perform many other actions on your PDF, and it’s worth exploring those options just in case you need to use one of them in the future.