How to Combine PDFs on a Mac Using Preview

Need to send several PDF pages as one file? Your Mac’s Preview app can combine them without uploading your documents to a website.

Quick answer: Make a copy of the PDF you’ll start with, open it in Preview, show its thumbnails, and insert another PDF after the page you select. Check the page order, save the combined copy, and reopen it before sharing.

Make the copy first. Apple warns that Preview saves changes automatically. Editing the original and planning to save a copy afterward can leave the original changed.

Combine the files

1. Open the first PDF in Preview. Choose File → Duplicate to make a working copy, then work in the duplicate window. Keep the originals somewhere you can find them.
2. Choose View → Thumbnails. Click the thumbnail of the page after which you want the next PDF inserted. To add it to the end, select the last page.
3. Click the + at the bottom of the thumbnail sidebar and choose Insert Page from File. Select the other PDF and click Open. Menu wording can vary with macOS.
4. Check the sidebar. If needed, drag thumbnails into the order you want. Repeat the insertion for additional PDFs.
5. Choose File → Save, give the working copy a clear name and location if prompted, and open that saved file again. Check the page count, order, orientation, and anything that matters to your recipient before sending it.

For this guide, we opened two disposable one-page PDFs, selected a thumbnail, and used Insert Page from File. Preview showed two thumbnails and the inserted page. We did not test every PDF type, page reordering, or the duplicate-and-reopen steps in this example.

Need just a few pages?

Open both PDFs and choose View → Thumbnails in each. Apple’s instructions say you can drag the pages you want from one sidebar into the other, including between existing pages. Hold Command while selecting nonadjacent thumbnails. Work in a duplicate of the destination, and check the result carefully; we didn’t test the drag method for this guide.

If it doesn’t look right

• The new pages are in the wrong spot: show Thumbnails and drag pages into the order you need. Apple documents this in its page-editing guide.
• The original changed: stop editing it and check whether File → Revert To offers a usable earlier version. Availability depends on the file and its history; Apple explains the options.
• A file won’t open or insert: check that it opens on its own and isn’t locked or damaged. If it’s password-protected, obtain the password from its owner; don’t assume every protected PDF permits editing.

For another useful Preview workflow, see how to convert and resize images on a Mac.