# Merge PDFs on Windows

Canonical HTML: [https://pdfpix.com/guides/merge-pdfs-on-windows/](https://pdfpix.com/guides/merge-pdfs-on-windows/)

Windows opens PDFs in Microsoft Edge, but joining them takes one more tool. The quickest is the merge tool, which runs in Edge or Chrome with nothing to install. Drag the files in from File Explorer, set the order, and download one PDF. The files are read and joined inside the browser tab on your PC.

## Steps

1. **Open the merge tool.** Open the merge tool in Edge, Chrome or Firefox on the PC.
2. **Add the files.** Drag the PDFs from File Explorer onto the page, or click the picker and select several with Ctrl held down.
3. **Set the order.** Each file shows its page count. Use the up and down arrows to put the files in the order the combined document needs.
4. **Merge and save.** Press merge. One PDF lands in the Downloads folder, and the originals stay as they were.

## Merge PDF files on Windows in the browser

[The merge tool](https://pdfpix.com/merge-pdf/) is a web page, so it works the same on Windows 10, Windows 11 and a work laptop where you cannot install software. Open it in Edge or Chrome, drag the files in from File Explorer, and each one shows its page count. Set the order with the arrow buttons, press merge, and the combined PDF is saved to Downloads.

The files never leave the PC. The tab reads and joins them itself, which is what you want for payslips, bank statements and signed contracts, and it is free with no account and no daily limit.

## What Windows has built in

Microsoft Edge is the default PDF reader on Windows. It opens, prints, highlights and draws on a PDF. Microsoft Print to PDF turns anything you can print into a PDF, one document at a time. Combining two PDFs into one file is the job the browser tool adds.

Adobe Acrobat Reader, the free version, is a reader as well. Combining files sits in the paid Acrobat plans. If your company already pays for Acrobat, its Combine Files command does the same job; if it does not, the browser tool covers it for free.

## Getting the order right

File Explorer sorts names as text, so a scan named page 10 can land before page 2 when you select a whole folder. The merge tool lets you move each file up or down after it is loaded, so the names do not matter.

To pick the files, hold Ctrl and click each one in File Explorer, or click the first and hold Shift on the last to take a whole run. Then drag the selection onto the page in one move. Files from different folders can go in one batch after another.

Check the joins before you send the file. Open the result in Edge, jump to the first page of each part, and make sure it is the part you expected.

## Two files, many files and scans

For the common case of two documents, [merge two PDF files](https://pdfpix.com/merge-pdf/two-files/) is the same engine with a smaller screen. For a stack of twenty statements, [merge multiple PDF files](https://pdfpix.com/merge-pdf/multiple-files/) is built for the long list. Scanned pages join like any other page, and [merge scanned documents](https://pdfpix.com/guides/merge-scanned-documents/) covers getting the scans themselves right.

If the combined file has to go through an upload form with a size limit, merge first and then compress, as [merge and compress PDFs](https://pdfpix.com/guides/merge-and-compress-pdfs/) explains, so the limit is met once on the file you actually send.

## The same job on other machines

The merge tool runs in any modern browser, so the steps above work on a Mac, a Chromebook or a phone as well. [Merge PDFs on a Mac](https://pdfpix.com/guides/merge-pdfs-on-a-mac/) also covers Preview and Finder, which Apple ships for free. The [merge hub](https://pdfpix.com/guides/merge/) lists every guide for joining files into one PDF.

## Questions and answers

### Can Windows merge PDF files without extra software?

Windows opens and prints PDFs in Edge. To join them, open the merge tool in Edge or Chrome, which runs in the browser with nothing to install.

### Does the free Adobe Reader merge PDFs on Windows?

Combining files is part of the paid Acrobat plans. The free Reader opens, fills and signs PDFs. The browser merge tool joins them at no cost.

### Are my files uploaded when I merge PDFs on Windows in the browser?

No. The merge tool reads and joins the files inside the browser tab on your PC, so nothing is sent to a server.

### How do I select several PDFs at once in File Explorer?

Hold Ctrl and click each file, or click the first and Shift-click the last for a run. Then drag the whole selection onto the merge page.

### Where does Windows save the merged PDF?

In the Downloads folder, unless your browser asks where to save. The original files are not changed.

## Related pages

- [Merge PDF](https://pdfpix.com/merge-pdf/): Join several PDFs into one file in the order you choose. The file stays in your browser. No upload, no account needed.
- [How to combine PDF files](https://pdfpix.com/guides/how-to-combine-pdf-files/): Put several PDFs into one file, in the order you want. Free, in your browser, with Merge PDF.
- [Merge PDFs on a Mac](https://pdfpix.com/guides/merge-pdfs-on-a-mac/): Combine PDFs on a Mac with Preview, Finder or the browser. Free, in your browser, with Merge PDF.
- [Multiple PDF to one PDF](https://pdfpix.com/merge-pdf/multiple-files/): Put many PDFs into one file without doing them two at a time. The file stays in your browser. No upload, no account needed.
- [Put PDFs together](https://pdfpix.com/guides/merge/): Find the right guide for putting files together into one PDF. Every guide on the job, sorted by the problem you have.