How to Add Page Numbers to a PDF Document with 3 Methods

In many cases, you will find that page numbers in a PDF document are essential. For example, if you need to add comments to a PDF and share your ideas with others, you will need to refer to page numbers to improve the efficiency of your communication. In addition, when reviewing a lengthy PDF document, it will be easier to pick up pages where you last read them.

How to add page numbers to a PDF if you find a PDF doesn't come with page numbers? This article offers you three ways to insert page numbers into PDF documents quickly including using Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free PDF editor app, or an online PDF solution. 

Read on.

If you have subscribed to Adobe Acrobat Reader DC on your Windows PC, adding page numbers to a PDF document will be easy. It allows adding a number to every page in a few clicks. 

Steps for Adding page numbers to PDF with Adobe: 

Step 1: Find the PDF to which you want to add page numbers and right-click it.

Step 2: Select Open With > Adobe Acrobat. 

Step 3: Click the leftward arrow at the right side of the app window and a menu will display.

Step 4: Click Edit PDF and a new menu with many editing tools will appear along the top of your document. 

Step 5: Click Header & Footer and click Add in the drop-down menu.

Step 6: In the Add header & footer pop-up window, click  your cursor in the location where you want to insert the page number:

• Left Header Text

• Center Header Text

• Right Header Text

• Left Footer Text

• Center Footer Text

• Right Footer Text

Step 7: Click Insert Page Number. 

Note: Adobe Acrobat Reader provides advanced settings for adding page numbers in PDF. You can click Page Number and Date Format to select formatting for automatic entries. To specify a page range, click Page Range options. 

Step 8: Click OK and the page numbers will be on each page as you set up.  

iTop PDF is a versatile PDF solution for reading, creating, and editing files in PDF format. It gives you maximized flexibility and management when dealing with PDF files in Windows.

This PDF editor by iTop allows you to:

• Freely view PDFs with features like search, zoom, and land on a specific page

• Convert PDF files to or from Microsoft Office documents, scanned PDFs, and other types of files without losing the quality

• Edit, markup, and comment PDFs with any changes

• Password-protect PDF files

• Combine, split, extract, add, and manage PDF pages

You can use the editing feature to add page numbers to PDF documents. This method allows you to specify which page to insert the page number. It lets you add page numbers in any area in a PDF and type any type of page number you like.

Steps for Adding page numbers to PDF with iTop PDF: 

Step 1: Free download iTop PDF on your Windows PC. This PDF editor works on Windows 11/10/8/7. 

What makes iTop PDF a must-have software?

• Edit PDF smoothly without hassle
• Convert PDF to any format in high quality
• Split and Merge PDF files easily and quickly
• Add e-signature effortlessly to your PDF

Free Download

Step 2: Click +Add File and your file manager will open and you will be able to select your PDF to upload. 

Step 3: Click the Edit option at the top of the PDF editor software window and select Add Text.

Step 4: Click any place you want to insert a page number. A text box will display and you can adjust the text size, font, and color.

Step 5: Type in a page number or any text indicating a special page in the text box.

If you don't want to subscribe to Abode Acrobat Reader or install any third-party free PDF editor on your PC, you can use a free online PDF tool on a web browser to add pages to PDFs. This method works perfectly well for occasional use and short PDF files. 

Smallpdf is one of the best PDF editors that offers 21 tools to help you convert, compress, manage, encrypt, and edit PDFs on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer or any web browser. It allows users to edit 2 PDF documents per day. 

Steps for Adding page numbers to PDF online:  

Step 1: Go to the official website of Smallpdf and click Add Page Numbers, or use this link: 

Step 2: Upload your PDF by clicking the CHOOSE FILE button or dropping a PDF into the box. You can click the arrow to upload a PDF from Dropbox or Google Drive.

Step 3: You will see an image of PDF on the right of your screen asking you to add a checkmark to where you want to insert page numbers to PDF. 

Step 4: Click NUMBER PAGES and then download the edited PDF. This online tool automatically adds numbers to all of your PDF pages. 

Conclusion

Adding page numbers in PDFs makes them more organized, and it is also very helpful for effective communication. You can easily read the content of a PDF via a web browser or system's native preview tool, but how to edit a PDF, especially how to add page numbers in PDF is not a simple task without the right tools. 

This article teaches you how to add page numbers to PDF files using the paid Adobe Acrobat, a free PDF editor app, or a free online PDF tool. If you need to work with multiple PDF files and want a wide variety of PDF handling functions, try iTop PDF now.