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Add page numbers
Automatic page numbering. Free, no sign-up.
or drop it here
Add page numbers runs inside your browser — your file never reaches our servers.
How to add page numbers to a PDF
Numbers are drawn onto each page and become part of the document.
- Select your PDF. Any document.
- Choose format and position. 1, 2, 3 · 1 of 10 · or roman numerals.
- Download. A numbered PDF.
What lands on the page, and what it is not
Each number is drawn straight into the page as text: 11 point Helvetica, dark grey, 40 points in from the edge. Nothing on the page moves to make room and there is no margin reflow, so the number sits where you put it — including on top of a running footer that is already there. If the document has one, pick a position it does not use.
Because it is text rather than an image, the number is copied when you copy the page and found when you search the file. A scan can be numbered perfectly well too: drawing does not need a text layer to start with, so each page gains one searchable string in the process.
It is not a page label. This tool never touches the labels a reader shows in its page box, and the figures it draws always run 1 to N in physical order, cover and blank pages included — so on a file whose front matter is already labelled i, ii, iii, the printed figure and the reader’s box will disagree. Roman numerals are drawn lower case. And 1 of 10 takes its total from this file alone, so merge a bundle before numbering it, not after.
Pages that carry a rotation flag
Positions are measured against the media box, the unrotated box the page is stored in. For most documents that is what you see. For a page carrying a rotation flag, such as one side of a bundle scanned in landscape, it is not: the number is placed and drawn in the stored orientation, so it can come out on its side, or in a corner other than the one you picked. Check those pages after downloading.
Bates numbering handles that case — it reads the flag and inverts it, so the stamp reads upright in the corner you chose, which is much of why it is a separate tool. Mixed page sizes are gentler: the margin is measured from each page’s own edge, so an A3 insert gets its number in the same corner as its A4 neighbours, just further out from the text block.
Questions
Can I start numbering from a later page?
Not in this tool yet. As a workaround, split off the front matter, number the main body, then merge them back together.
Can I write “Page 1 of 10” instead of “1 of 10”?
No. There are three formats — 1, 2, 3 · 1 of 10 · lower-case roman — and no custom wording. Add watermark will stamp any text you like on every page, but it repeats the same text, so it cannot count.
Can I change the font, size or colour of the numbers?
No. They are fixed at 11 point Helvetica in dark grey. That is what keeps this tool to two choices and one click; for numbers that match a particular house style, set them yourself with Edit PDF text.
Can I number a scanned PDF?
Yes. Numbering draws onto the page and reads nothing from it, so a scan with no text layer numbers exactly like any other document.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. Every tool on this site runs inside your browser, using the same engine as the Folia desktop app. Your file is read from your disk into your browser’s memory, processed there, and handed back as a download. It never crosses the internet, so there is nothing for us to store, leak or hand over.
Is there a file size limit?
We impose none. The only ceiling is your own device’s memory, which differs from one computer to another — so we read what your browser reports about this machine and show the resulting limit on the page. Light tools like merge and rotate handle far more than heavy ones like OCR, which must render every page. For anything larger, Folia for Desktop has no limit at all.
Is it really free? Do I need an account?
Yes, and no. Every tool is free and unlimited, with no watermark and no sign-up. Ads pay for the site, and your own computer does the work, which costs us nothing. Signing in with a paid Folia plan simply removes the ads.