10 Best Free PDF Tools for Windows
One of the most reliable methods of sharing and storing documents is the use of PDFs or the Portable Document Format files. They guarantee fonts, images and layouts to appear uniform on all devices, and thus, they are ideal in contracts, invoices, manuals, eBooks, presentations and forms. However, though PDFs make perfect reading, they may not be easily edited using the wrong tools.
And this is the place where PDF utilities come in. They enable you to do far more than just view a file, you can edit text, combine several files, compress documents to be more easily shared, convert to other formats and even make scanned text searchable. Windows users have many dozens of choices, not all of which are equally good or are actually free. Here is a carefully selected list of the top 10 best free PDF tools in 2025, varying both in terms of complete-featured offline tools to quick, secure online tools.
The Best Free PDF Tools for Windows
1. PDF24 Creator
A Windows user powerhouse, PDF24 Creator is a full featured PDF workshop. It is able to convert any printable material into PDF, combine and segregate files, insert watermarks, and compress big files without much loss in quality. It even lets OCR turn scanned in documents into searchable text. The most exciting part is that it does not require any connection to the Internet, therefore your files do not go anywhere.
2. Tool Spacer Merge PDF Online Tool
In case you simply require merging several PDFs, the Merge PDF Online tool offered by Tool Spacer is the right one. Just put your files up, drag them in sequence and hit Merge. You can download a clean combined PDF in a number of seconds. There is no registration and files are safely manipulated in your browser. It is particularly helpful in cases when students are taking notes, companies are combining reports or a person just appreciates speed and privacy.
3. PDFsam Basic
PDFsam Basic, short for PDF Split and Merge, is an open-source tool perfect for rearranging pages, extracting specific sections, and combining multiple files. Its clean interface and offline functionality make it a favorite for professionals who work with large batches of PDFs.
4. PDF Candy
PDF Candy is an online service that provides more than 40 tools in one. Need to convert PDFs to Word or Excel, unlock PDFs, rotate pages, or OCR? PDF Candy can do it all–no software required.
5. PDFescape
A versatile application that comes in form of an online editor and a windows desktop app. Using PDFescape, one is able to annotate the PDFs, fill forms, add shapes, highlight text and add images. It is excellent when it comes to fast updates and is not subject to the costly licenses.
6. PDFgear
The novel design and feature-set are propelling PDFgear to popularity. You can edit text and images, annotate PDFs and convert, compress large PDFs, and scan in OCR and it is free.
7. LibreOffice Draw
Draw is a part of the LibreOffice office suite and is able to open PDFs as a graphic document, in which you can move text boxes, replace images or alter layouts. It is particularly handy in instances where you want to have finer control of the design of a PDF.
8. Smallpdf
Smallpdf is an extremely fast online PDF software. It includes such simple functions as combing, dividing, compression and mere editing. The free version is limited to a daily use but it is ideal when there is a need to do something fast and on an ad hoc basis.
9. iLovePDF Compress PDF
iLovePDF could be described as one of the most stable PDF compressing tools on the Internet. It also compresses files so that they can be uploaded and shared via email faster and yet they would remain readable. This comes especially in handy when filling in job applications, doing school assignments or even uploading documents on government portals that are limited in size.
10. Sejda PDF to JPG Converter
Sejda is a trusted web-based tool providing a variety of PDF tools but one of its greatest tools is the PDF to JPG converter because it produces a high-quality image export. It is ideal in the production of visual previews of reports or sharing individual pages of PDF documents as pictures on social media.
How to Choose the Right PDF Tool
When selecting a PDF tool, consider your purpose—do you need to merge a few files or perform daily editing? Think about frequency—if you use PDFs often, an offline suite might be better. Consider security—confidential files are safest in offline tools. And finally, ease of use—some tools are better for beginners, while others are designed for advanced editing.
Online vs Offline PDF Tools
Online tools like Tool Spacer, iLovePDF, and PDF Candy are excellent for quick, no-install tasks. They work on any device and are often free, but may have file size or daily usage limits. Offline tools like PDF24 Creator, PDFsam Basic, and LibreOffice Draw offer unlimited use and greater privacy for sensitive documents, though they require installation.
Practical Examples of Use
Students can merge lecture notes and compress project files for email submission. Business owners can combine invoices, contracts, and proposals into a single document for clients. Researchers can extract specific pages from large reports to share with colleagues. Designers can convert PDFs to high-resolution JPGs for marketing materials.