How to Combine PDF Files Without Adobe (Includes Alternatives)

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Published By Siddharth Tehri
Published On January 17th, 2024
Reading Time 5 Minutes Reading
Category PDF

Looking for alternative free solutions to combine PDF files without Adobe? Then look no more! I am going to provide you with multiple methods, both free and instant, that will effortlessly merge PDF files without using Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Page Contents:

Before that, you should be familiar with the official application to manage PDF documents by Adobe. The application that I am talking about is Adobe Acrobat Pro Dc. However, for users who do not have this application, it becomes difficult to perform certain actions on a PDF file.

That is why I will provide a free and affordable Acrobat alternative. But first, let us see how users can merge PDF files using Adobe.

Merge Multiple PDFs to One Using Adobe Acrobat

It is the ultimate tool for creating, securing, changing, or manipulating PDF documents. However, due to its multi-purpose usability, many users find its cost immoderate. Especially if they just want to combine PDFs

  1. Open Acrobat DC and open the Tools tab and click on the “Combine files” option.
  2. To insert PDF files, click on the “Add Files” option and select the files you want to combine. Remember you can combine PDFs or a mix of PDF and other files.
  3. You can arrange by clicking, dragging, and dropping to reorder the files. You can also erase some content using the “Delete” button.
  4. Once you are done arranging, click on “Combine Files”.
  5. Lastly, name your file and press ctrl+S to save the combined PDF files.

If you already own this tool then, the above method can be helpful to you. Now for those who do not have Adobe, here are the alternatives.

Best Alternative to Combine PDF Files Without Adobe

PDF Split & Merge Software is the perfect, secure, and affordable tool to combine multiple PDF documents without using Adobe Acrobat.

It offers options like “Combine PDF by Page Range”. Also, if after merging PDF files your file becomes heavy then this tool has a solution for this problem. You can simply use its “Split Combined PDF by Size” option.

Don’t worry about page layout issues as the tool carefully takes care of the PDF content, line breaks, and structure. As it is an offline tool your PDF passwords & data won’t be leaked as it does not save anything.

Let’s see how we can combine multiple PDF documents using the tool!

Step by Step Process to Join PDF Files Without Adobe:

It does not take any special skills to run the tool because with its self-explanatory interface. Any non-technical person can easily perform the task. Just follow these steps to combine multiple PDFs into one:

Step-1: Install and Launch software on your Windows or Mac system.

Step-2: Choose the “Merge” option to combine multiple PDF document.
Remember: You can also choose the “Skip Attachments” option to get resultant files without any additional documents.

choose merge pdf option

Step-3: Insert multiple PDF documents using Add File(s)/ Add Folder option and click on Next.

add pdf files to combine

Step-4: The software will ask you to combine multiple with page range (you will have to provide the page range numbers for different PDF files). You can also choose to combine PDFs in the existing PDF or create a new PDF file.

apply several options

Step-5: Lastly hit Merge to complete the process.

merge pdf files without adobe

Using LibreOffice (Open-Source) to Combine PDF Files Without Adobe

LibreOffice is a free and open-source office suite that includes a program called LibreOffice Draw. This program can be used to manipulate PDF files. Using LibreOffice Draw to combine PDF files without Adobe is a useful method. It is especially for users who prefer a free and open-source solution. Although it might not be as straightforward as the dedicated PDF tool mentioned above, it gets the job done.

  • If you don’t already have LibreOffice, download it from the official LibreOffice website.
  • Install & Launch LibreOffice Draw.
  • Go to File in the menu bar and select Open. Navigate to the location of the first PDF file you want to combine and open it.
  • Once the first PDF is open, go to the page where you want to insert the next PDF.
  • Go to Insert in the menu bar, then select Media and Photo Album.
  • In the dialog box, click Add and select the additional PDF files you want to include.
  • After adding the files, click Insert. The pages from the added PDFs will be inserted into your current document.
  • Once you have all your pages arranged as desired, go to File >> Export As >> Export as PDF.
  • Save the combined PDF document by clicking Save.

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Final Thoughts

Now you know how to combine PDF files without Adobe. There are two ways to do it; Either use LibreOffice, an open-source program, or opt for dedicated software. Choose the method that satisfies your requirements. But make sure to test the results with dummy PDf files first.