The 5 best PDF editors for Mac (2026)
Five PDF apps for Mac compared, from full text editors to offline toolkits, plus everything Preview already does for free.
The best PDF editors for Mac in 2026 are Adobe Acrobat (best for complete editing, forms and e-signature workflows), PDF Expert (best Mac-native editor for reading, annotating and editing text), UPDF (best for one license across Mac, Windows and mobile, with a perpetual option), Folio (best offline PDF toolkit for a one-time price: converting to Word and Excel, merging, compressing, password-protecting and signing, but not editing text in place) and PDF Squeezer (best for shrinking PDFs). If you only need to highlight, sign, combine or password-protect a PDF, macOS’s built-in Preview is enough.
Disclosure: We make Folio, one of the apps on this list. We’ve tried to place it where it genuinely fits and to describe every app fairly, using each developer’s own site. Prices and features checked 28 October 2026.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Price model | Runs locally? | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat | Full editing, forms, e-signature workflows | Subscription (free Reader) | Desktop app; account and cloud services | macOS 13+ |
| PDF Expert | Reading, annotating and editing on Mac | Subscription or one-time Lifetime | Yes | macOS 12+ |
| UPDF | Feature-packed editor across platforms | Subscription or perpetual license | Yes; cloud and AI are online | macOS 11+ |
| Folio | Convert, merge, compress, protect and sign offline (no text editing) | One-time purchase | Yes | macOS 14+ |
| PDF Squeezer | Compressing PDFs with fine control | Paid app ($19.99 on the Mac App Store) | Yes | macOS 13+ |
Prices and features checked 28 October 2026 on each developer’s website. Check the official site before you buy.
1. Adobe Acrobat: best for complete editing, forms and e-signatures
Acrobat is the PDF format’s own reference app, from the company that created it. If a document has to work everywhere, from complex forms to signature requests, Acrobat is the safe choice.
Standout features
- Edit text and images in place: fix typos, change fonts, swap and crop images.
- OCR turns scans into searchable, editable PDFs.
- Convert PDFs to and from Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Create forms, with automatic form field detection.
- Request e-signatures, track their status and send reminders.
- An AI Assistant, included in Acrobat Studio and available as an add-on otherwise.
Limits
- It’s a subscription. On the annual plan billed monthly, Adobe charges a fee of up to half the remaining commitment if you cancel after 14 days.
- A one-time Acrobat Pro 2024 license exists, but Adobe says it has limited features and no online services.
Who it’s for: people who edit, build and send PDFs as part of their job, especially in businesses that already use Adobe.
2. PDF Expert: best Mac-native editor
PDF Expert, from Readdle, is a Mac-first PDF app that has long been a favorite for its speed and clean design. It’s also on the Mac App Store.
Standout features
- Annotate with highlights, notes, stamps, stickers, drawings and audio notes.
- Edit PDF text, images and links.
- OCR, form filling, signing and merging.
- Convert PDF to Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and translate PDFs.
- PDF Copilot, an AI assistant for your documents.
Limits
- Editing, conversion, OCR and signing are part of the paid plans.
- The Lifetime license is Mac only, and Readdle says additional new features may cost extra.
Who it’s for: Mac users who read and mark up PDFs every day and want text editing in a native-feeling app.
3. UPDF: best for one license across Mac, Windows and mobile
UPDF, from Superace Software, packs a long feature list into apps for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, sold under one license.
Standout features
- Edit text, images and links; annotate; create and fill forms.
- OCR, and conversion to Word, Excel and images.
- Merge, split, crop, rotate, compress and batch-process.
- Sign, redact and remove security.
- AI tools to summarize, translate and chat with PDFs, plus UPDF Cloud storage.
Limits
- The free version adds a watermark when you save edited files and allows 2 conversions a day.
- OCR isn’t available in the Mac App Store version; the developer says to download from updf.com.
- AI use beyond a small free allowance needs the separate AI Assistant plan.
Who it’s for: people who work across Mac and Windows or on mobile and want Acrobat-style features without a monthly Adobe bill.
4. Folio: best offline PDF toolkit for a one-time price
Folio is our PDF app, and to be clear up front: it’s a toolkit, not a text editor. It has 15 tools for the jobs people usually upload to PDF websites. Pick a tool, drop your files, check the options and press the button. Results are saved beside the original with a suffix such as “merged” or “signed”, and the original is never changed.
Standout features
- PDF to Word (.docx) rebuilds paragraphs, font sizes, bold and italic, so you can edit the text in Word or Pages.
- PDF to Excel (.xlsx, one sheet per page) or CSV rebuilds tables, with numbers as numbers.
- PDF to JPG or PNG, PDF to text or Markdown, images to PDF (A4, Letter or their own size) and Word, RTF, HTML or text to PDF.
- Merge, split, extract images, and a page editor to reorder, rotate (⌘[ and ⌘]) and delete pages with undo.
- Compress at three levels, showing the size before and after; watermark and page numbers.
- Add or remove a password, and sign by drawing on the trackpad or typing your name, saved as a flattened copy.
What it doesn’t do
- No editing text or images in place; convert to Word, edit there, and convert back instead.
- No OCR: scanned pages can be merged, compressed and signed, but not turned into text or spreadsheets.
- No highlights, comments or other annotations, and no form filling or redaction.
- PDF to Word simplifies complex layouts with columns or text boxes, and doesn’t carry pictures into the Word file.
- Balanced and Strong compression turn pages into images, so text is no longer selectable.
- Remove Password needs the current password; it can’t recover a forgotten one.
Who it’s for: anyone who handles tax returns, leases, payslips and invoices and wants conversions, merging, compression and signing without uploading them or paying monthly.
5. PDF Squeezer: best for shrinking PDFs
PDF Squeezer, from Witt Software, does one job: making PDFs smaller. It earns a place here because file size is the most common PDF problem after editing, and it gives far more control than Preview.
Standout features
- Drag and drop single files, whole folders or subfolders for batch compression.
- Predefined and custom profiles covering images, fonts, metadata and unused resources.
- A side-by-side comparison to check the visual quality before you save.
- Export all images from a PDF, or convert pages to bitmaps so vector graphics can’t be copied.
- Works with Shortcuts, Automator, Quick Actions, Folder Actions and the command line.
Limits
- It’s a compressor, not an editor; there’s no text editing or annotation.
- Password protection is a separate app from the same developer, PDF Protector.
Who it’s for: anyone who regularly needs PDFs under an email or upload limit, and teams that want compression in an automated workflow.
The built-in option: Preview
Preview, included with every Mac, covers more PDF jobs than most people expect. Steps below follow Apple’s Preview guide for current macOS versions, including macOS 14 Sonoma, 15 Sequoia and 26 Tahoe.
- Mark up: click Show Markup Toolbar to add text, shapes, notes and other annotations. To fill in an interactive form, click a field and type.
- Sign: in the Markup toolbar, click Sign, then create a signature with Trackpad, Camera or your iPhone or iPad (Select Device). Click it, drag it into place and resize it.
- Combine: open both PDFs, choose View › Thumbnails in each, and drag page thumbnails from one sidebar into the other. To add a whole PDF, drag its icon from Finder into the sidebar. Preview saves automatically, so use File › Duplicate first if you want to keep the originals.
- Compress: choose File › Export…, set Quartz Filter to Reduce File Size, and click Save.
- Password-protect: choose File › Export…, click Permissions…, select Require Password To Open Document, enter a password and an owner password, then click Apply and Save. Change it later with File › Edit Permissions.
What Preview can’t do: edit existing text, convert a PDF to Word or Excel, or split a PDF into several files in one step. Its Reduce File Size filter has no settings, and Apple notes that compressed PDFs may have lower image quality. If those gaps matter, one of the apps above will help.
How we picked
- Editing depth: whether the app edits text in place, runs OCR, handles forms and signs.
- Privacy and offline use: whether documents stay on your Mac and whether an account is needed.
- Price model: subscription, one-time or both, using each developer’s own pricing page.
- Maintained for current macOS, with the minimum version taken from the developer or the Mac App Store.
- Range: full editors first, then specialists. We also looked at Nitro PDF Pro, but couldn’t confirm its current Mac pricing and requirements on its own site, so we left it out.
We make Folio. It can’t edit text in place, so it isn’t the pick if that’s what you need. We included it because many people searching for a “PDF editor” actually want to convert, merge, compress, protect or sign, and Folio does those offline for a one-time price.
FAQ
What is the best PDF editor for Mac?
Adobe Acrobat is the most complete, with text editing, OCR, forms and e-signature requests, but it’s a subscription. PDF Expert is the best Mac-native editor, and UPDF offers a perpetual license that covers Mac, Windows and mobile. If you mainly convert, merge, compress or sign, Folio does that offline for a one-time price.
Is there a free PDF editor for Mac?
Preview is free and built in. It can highlight, add text and shapes, fill forms, sign, combine pages, compress and password-protect PDFs, but it can’t edit existing text. Acrobat Reader is free for viewing. PDF Expert and UPDF can be installed for free, with editing and other features behind a paid plan.
How do I edit the text in a PDF on a Mac?
Use an editor that supports in-place text editing, such as Adobe Acrobat, PDF Expert or UPDF. Preview can’t change existing text, only add new text on top. Another route is to convert the PDF to Word with Folio, Acrobat or PDF Expert, edit it, and save it as a PDF again.
Can I edit PDFs on a Mac offline?
Yes. Preview, PDF Expert, Folio and PDF Squeezer work on your Mac without uploading documents. Acrobat and UPDF are desktop apps too, but their plans are tied to an account and include cloud storage and online AI features.
Is there a PDF editor for Mac without a subscription?
Yes. PDF Expert sells a one-time Lifetime license for Mac, UPDF sells a perpetual license, Folio and PDF Squeezer are one-time purchases, and Adobe offers a one-time Acrobat Pro 2024 license with limited features and no online services.
How do I reduce the size of a PDF on a Mac?
In Preview, choose File › Export…, set Quartz Filter to Reduce File Size and save. For more control, PDF Squeezer offers compression profiles and a side-by-side preview, and Folio offers three levels with the size before and after.
Key takeaways
- Adobe Acrobat is the most complete PDF editor, but it’s a subscription.
- PDF Expert is the best Mac-native editor; UPDF is the pick for one license across Mac, Windows and mobile.
- Folio doesn’t edit text in place; it converts, merges, compresses, protects and signs PDFs offline for a one-time price.
- PDF Squeezer is the specialist for shrinking PDFs.
- Preview already highlights, signs, combines, compresses and password-protects PDFs for free.