How to Add Text to a PDF Without Installing Anything

To add text to a PDF, open Edit PDF, choose Text, click the page where the words should go and start typing. Drag the box into position, set the font, size and color, and download the edited file. It all happens in your browser, so there's nothing to install and the document stays on your device. Edit PDF is available on Pro.

That covers most of the reasons people need to write on a PDF: filling in a form that isn't fillable, adding a date or a reference number, leaving a note for a colleague, or labeling a scanned page before filing it.

How to add text to a PDF

Open Edit PDF and drop in your file.
Choose Text from the editing tools, then click the spot on the page where the text should start.
Type your text into the box that appears.
Style it. Choose Helvetica, Times or Courier, switch bold on or off, set the size in points and pick a color.
Position it precisely. Drag the box into place, or select it and nudge it with the arrow keys.
Apply and download. Undo and redo work across every page until you save, so you can experiment freely.

What you see on screen is drawn from the PDF itself, so the text lands in the downloaded file exactly where it sits in the editor.

Filling in a form that isn't fillable

Many forms are just flat pages with lines and boxes to write on. They look like forms, but there are no interactive fields, so clicking a line does nothing. Edit PDF is the fix: add a text box on each line, keep the font size consistent, and line the text up with the printed labels.

A few habits make the result look tidy:

Use one font and one size throughout. 10 or 11 points matches most printed forms.
Zoom in when aligning text with a printed line, then nudge it with the arrow keys.
For checkboxes, a single capital X in a small text box works well.
Write dates in the format the form asks for, not the one you usually use.

If clicking the form does reveal fields you can type into, it's a fillable form, and Fill PDF Forms is quicker. It detects every field so you can type answers, tick boxes and pick options, and it can flatten the answers so they can't be changed afterwards.

Adding images, highlights and white-out

The same editor handles a few other jobs in one pass:

Images. Add a PNG or JPG, such as a logo, a stamp or a photo, then drag and resize it. Photos taken on a phone are turned the right way up.
Highlights. Mark lines in yellow, green, pink or blue for a reviewer.
White-out. Cover a small mistake with a white box and type the correction on top.

For a handwritten signature, use Sign PDF instead. It lets you draw, type or upload a signature and place it on any page.

A word of caution about white-out

White-out hides text visually, but the original words are still in the file underneath. Anyone who copies text from that area, or opens the file in a full editor, can see what you covered. That's fine for fixing a typo in your own address. It isn't fine for hiding a salary, an account number or a client's name.

To remove content for good, use Redact PDF. It rebuilds each marked page as an image with the covered area burned in, so the text underneath is gone rather than hidden.

What Edit PDF doesn't do

Edit PDF adds content on top of the page. It doesn't rewrite text that's already there, reflow paragraphs or change the document's original fonts. That kind of editing needs the file the PDF was made from, such as the original word processor document, which you can change and export again.

The built-in fonts cover English and most Western European accented letters, plus numbers and common punctuation. Scripts such as Chinese, Japanese or Arabic aren't supported for typed text.

Tips for professional-looking results

Match the document. If the PDF uses a serif typeface, Times usually blends in better than Helvetica.
Keep text off the edges. Printers can't print right to the edge of the paper, so leave a margin around anything you add near the border.
Use dark colors for anything official. Black or dark blue text reads as intentional; bright colors read as annotations.
Check every page before downloading. It's easy to add a note on the wrong page in a long document.
Keep the original. Edits are saved to a separate copy, so hold on to the untouched file in case you need to start again.

FAQ

Can I edit the existing text in a PDF?

Not directly. Edit PDF adds text, images, highlights and white-out on top of the page. To change wording properly, edit the source document and export a fresh PDF.

Will the recipient be able to change what I typed?

The text becomes part of the page when you save, so it isn't a form field someone can simply clear. A person with a full PDF editor could still add or cover content, as with any PDF.

Can I add text to a PDF on my phone?

Yes. Edit PDF runs in mobile browsers. Tap the page to place a text box, then drag it into position. A larger screen makes precise alignment easier.

Is Edit PDF free?

Edit PDF is available on Pro. See pricing for the plans. Free tools such as merge, split and compress work without an account.