How to edit text in a PDF — and really replace it
Updated
Many free tools “edit” PDF text by drawing a white box over it and typing on top. It looks fine, but the old words are still in the file: anyone can copy them, search finds them, and a screen reader reads both versions. Here is how to replace the text properly.
Step by step
- Open the PDF editor and choose the PDF.
- Choose Edit text. Paragraphs, headings, list items and table cells are outlined with a dashed line.
- Click the paragraph. It opens as a text box in the same size, weight and colour, with bold or italic words kept.
- Retype. The box wraps the text like the original paragraph did.
- Press Done, then Download.
What happens when you save
The PDF’s own content is read glyph by glyph, and the characters under your edited paragraph are removed and replaced with an equal amount of space, so nothing else on the line moves. Your new text is then written as real, selectable text.
If a document uses a font the editor cannot measure, it plays safe: the old words are covered in the paper’s colour instead, and nothing else is disturbed.
Tips for a seamless edit
- Keep edits roughly the same length as the original so the paragraph still fits its space.
- To remove sensitive text for good — names, account numbers — use Redact PDF, which also takes out anything drawn underneath.
- Scanned pages have no text yet: press Recognise text on this page first.