How to reorder, rotate or delete PDF pages

To rearrange PDF pages, open the file in a page organizer, drag the page thumbnails into the order you want, rotate or delete any page that needs it, and save a new copy. The whole job takes a minute on a phone. The details that trip people up are rotation that does not stick, and pages that seem deleted but come back.

Why pages end up in the wrong order

Pages get jumbled for ordinary reasons. You scanned a stack upside down, or fed the back of a form before the front. You merged three files and the appendix landed in the middle. A colleague exported slides with a blank page between each one. Whatever the cause, the fix is the same: a tool that shows every page as a thumbnail and lets you move them.

How to rearrange PDF pages, step by step

1. Open the PDF in a page organizer tool. You should see a grid of small page previews.
2. Press and hold a page, then drag it to its new position. Most tools show a gap or a line where the page will drop.
3. Repeat for each page that is out of place. For big moves, it can be quicker to move one page to the very start or end first.
4. Tap the rotate control on any sideways or upside-down page.
5. Select pages you do not need and delete them.
6. Check the order by scrolling through once from the start.
7. Save. Choose a new file name so you keep the original.

How does rotating a PDF page actually work?

There are two kinds of rotation, and mixing them up is the reason a page "turns back" when you send it to someone.

• View rotation turns the page on your screen only. Many PDF readers offer it. Close the file and the page is sideways again.
• Saved rotation changes the page itself, so it opens the right way in every viewer and prints correctly.

If you want the change to last, use a tool that saves the rotation into the file, then reopen the saved copy to confirm. Rotation in PDFs works in quarter turns, so you choose 90, 180 or 270 degrees. Scans that are slightly crooked need straightening at the scanning stage instead, by framing the page well when you take the photo.

Deleting pages without losing anything you need

Deleting is quick, which is exactly why it is easy to get wrong. A few habits help:

• Work on a copy. Save the edited version under a new name. If you later realise page 7 mattered, the original is still there.
• Check page numbers. If the document has printed page numbers, deleting a page leaves a gap in the sequence. Removing old numbers is not always possible, but you can add fresh ones afterwards. See how to add page numbers to a PDF.
• Watch for references. A contents page or a bookmark that pointed to a deleted page may now point to the wrong place. Rebuild your bookmarks once the order is final. Our guide to PDF bookmarks and a table of contents shows how.

Is a deleted page really gone?

In a well-made tool, yes: the saved file no longer contains that page. Do not confuse deleting with hiding or cropping, though. Cropping only changes the visible area, and the trimmed content can still be inside the file. If a page holds private details, delete the page entirely or redact the details properly. Our post on redacting a PDF properly explains why a black box drawn on top is not enough.

Rearranging pages from several files

When the pages you want are spread across different PDFs, combine them first, then rearrange. Merging puts the files one after another. Then you can drag individual pages into the final order in the organizer. For the merging part, see how to merge PDF files on your phone.

A quick order of operations

If you are doing several jobs to one file, this order saves rework:

1. Merge all the source files.
2. Delete pages you do not need.
3. Reorder and rotate.
4. Crop or resize if the pages are different sizes.
5. Add page numbers, headers or bookmarks last, once the order is final.
6. Compress if the file is too big to send.

Organizing pages in PDF Burrow

PDF Burrow has an Organize Pages tool that lets you reorder, rotate or delete pages, or pick the ones to keep as a new PDF. It works on the phone itself, so your document is not uploaded to a server to be edited. If you prefer, the Voice Commands tool can take a spoken instruction such as "delete page 3" and run it for you.

Frequently asked questions

Can I rotate just one page instead of the whole PDF?

Yes. In a page organizer each page has its own rotate control, so you can turn a single landscape table while the rest stay portrait.

Why does my rotated page go back to sideways when I send it?

You probably rotated the view, not the page. Use a tool that saves the rotation into the file, then reopen the saved copy to check before sending it.

Does rearranging pages reduce quality?

No. Moving, rotating and deleting pages does not re-compress the content, so text and images look exactly as they did before.

How do I reverse the order of all the pages?

Some tools have a reverse option. If yours does not, start from the last page and drag each one to the front in turn. For short documents this only takes a few moves.