How to Add Page Numbers to a PDF Free (and Skip the Cover Page)

To add page numbers to a PDF for free, open the Add Page Numbers to PDF tool, add your file, press Add page numbers and download the result. Every page gets a small grey number in the form "3 / 12" (page 3 of 12), centred at the bottom. The work happens inside your browser, so the PDF is never uploaded.

The tool has no settings: the position, the format and the starting number are fixed, and it numbers every page including the cover. That suits most handouts, statements and reports. When it doesn't, the workarounds below cover skipping a cover page, starting from another number and Roman numerals, plus what to check for college project reports and court filings.

What the tool adds, and what you can't change

The number is printed on top of whatever is already at the bottom of the page. On a normal document with margins that is empty space. On a scan with a stamp, footer or handwriting right at the bottom edge, the number can overlap it, so look at those pages after numbering.

Step by step

1. Finish the document first. Numbers are fixed once added, so join files with Merge PDF and remove unwanted pages with Delete Pages before you number.
2. Add the PDF. Open the page numbering tool and choose one PDF (up to about 100 MB). If you picked the wrong file, remove it with the × button before choosing another: the tool always works on the first file in its list.
3. Press Add page numbers. It takes a second or two for a normal report.
4. Download and rename. The file is called ethicalfusion-add-page-numbers.pdf, so give it a proper name.
5. Check it. Open the result and look at the first page, the last page and any sideways pages.

The numbers add very little to the file. Our five-page test grew by about 1 KB, because the tool uses a standard PDF font that does not need to be stored in the file.

Three problems we found in testing

• Pages turned with a rotation setting. Some PDF tools, including the site's Rotate PDF, make a page look upright by adding a rotation instruction rather than redrawing it. The numbering tool ignores that instruction, so on such a page the number appeared along the left edge, sideways. Pages that are simply wide, such as a table set horizontally, were numbered correctly. If a sideways number matters, re-scan that page upright and replace it before numbering.
• Password-protected PDFs. Bank statements, salary slips and e-PAN files often have a password, and some PDFs open freely but block copying or editing. In our tests the tool produced a file that would not open at all for both kinds. If it is your own document, open it with its password and save an unprotected copy first (in Chrome or Edge: Print, then choose Save as PDF, which works when the file allows printing), then number that copy.
• Digitally signed PDFs. Any change to a PDF signed with a digital signature certificate (DSC) breaks the signature check, because the tool saves the whole file again. Number documents before they are signed.

How to skip the cover page

The tool cannot leave page 1 blank, but two other free tools on the site get you there. Which method you use depends on whether the cover should count as page 1.

Method A: cover not counted, numbering starts at 1 on the first inside page. For a 12-page project report:

1. In Split PDF, extract pages 2-12 and save the file (11 pages).
2. Number that file. Its pages now read "1 / 11" to "11 / 11".
3. Extract page 1 alone from the original with Split PDF to get the cover.
4. In Merge PDF, add the cover first, then the numbered file. Merge keeps the order in which you add files and has no drag-to-reorder, so add them in the right order (or remove and re-add).

Method B: cover counted but not shown, so the first inside page reads "2 / 12".

1. Number the whole 12-page file.
2. Delete page 1 from the numbered copy with Delete Pages. You now have pages "2 / 12" to "12 / 12".
3. Extract page 1 from the original file with Split PDF.
4. Merge the clean cover first, then the numbered pages.

Method B is the usual print convention, where the cover counts but carries no number. Method A suits documents whose instructions say numbering starts after the cover.

Other start numbers and Roman numerals

Continuing numbers across files. If Chapter 3 is a separate PDF that should start at page 41, the tool cannot start at 41. Merge all the chapters into one PDF first and number it once; the numbers then run straight through.

Roman numerals for the front pages. Many university project reports and theses number the preliminary pages (certificate, acknowledgement, contents) as i, ii, iii and restart at 1 from Chapter 1. This tool cannot do that. Do it in the original document instead: in Microsoft Word, put a section break after the preliminary pages, then use Insert, Page Number, Format Page Numbers to choose "i, ii, iii" for the first section and "Start at 1" for the next. Tick "Different First Page" to keep the number off the cover, then save as PDF. LibreOffice Writer does the same with page styles. Adobe Acrobat's paid header and footer feature can also set the start number and position on an existing PDF.

Project reports and court filings in India

College project reports. Check your department's format sheet before you number. If it asks for plain numbers (3 rather than 3 / 12), a particular position such as top right, or Roman numerals for the front pages, number in Word or LibreOffice as described above. The tool is fine for drafts, annexures and the many reports that only ask for "pages numbered".

Court and tribunal filings. E-filing rules set the page format, and the page numbers in your index must match the document exactly. The Delhi High Court's E-Filing Rules, 2021, for example, specify A4 pages with 4 cm left and right margins and 2 cm top and bottom margins, Times New Roman 14 point at 1.5 line spacing, PDF/A as the preferred format, scans of non-text documents at 300 DPI in OCR-searchable form, bookmarks following the index, and a maximum e-file size of 100 MB in the High Court (20 MB in district courts). Our tool's number sits about 5.6 mm from the bottom, inside a 2 cm margin, so it does not cover text laid out to those rules. The rules we checked do not say where page numbers must go, so follow your registry's or advocate's practice, number only the final merged file, and then update the index. Adding numbers does not make a scan searchable; that needs OCR.

Keeping the file within portal limits

Numbering hardly changes the size, but the merged file may already be large. Compress PDF tidies the file structure; it does not recompress images, so scanned PDFs barely shrink. The guide to compressing a PDF to 100 KB or less covers what does work for scans, and the guide to editing a PDF without uploading it lists the other private PDF tools on the site.

Frequently asked questions

Can I put the page number at the top or on the right?

Not with this tool; it always uses the bottom centre. Use Word or LibreOffice before making the PDF, or a paid editor such as Adobe Acrobat for an existing PDF.

Can I number only some pages?

Split out the pages you want numbered, number them, and merge the parts back in order. The numbers will count only the pages in the file you numbered.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. Open the tool in Chrome or Safari, pick the PDF from your Files or Downloads, and the numbered copy is saved to your Downloads.

Is my document uploaded anywhere?

No. The PDF is read and changed by code running in your browser, which is why it also works for confidential contracts and statements.

Why do the numbers say "3 / 12" instead of "3"?

That is the tool's fixed format, chosen so readers know the total. If your guidelines want plain numbers, number the document in your word processor before saving it as a PDF.

Sources: High Court of Delhi, E-Filing Rules, 2021 (rules 3.4, 6.1–6.3 and 8.1); tests of the site's page numbering, split, merge and delete tools on sample PDFs in Chrome, October 2026.