Edit pages
Delete, rotate and reorder PDF pages
A blank back side in a scan, one cover sheet too many, a page that’s upside down: small fixes to a PDF shouldn’t require installing software. This guide shows how to remove pages, rotate them for good and reorder them – and why none of it costs any quality.
Jump right in: load your PDF into the PDF Werkstatt, click pages, delete or rotate them and save again. Free and without uploading anything.
Edit PDF pagesThe short version
- Load the PDF into the PDF Werkstatt.
- Click pages to select them.
- In the toolbar, choose Delete, Rotate left/right or Duplicate – or drag pages to a new position.
- Download as a new PDF.
Deleting pages
Hover over a page and a trash icon appears in its top right corner – one click removes exactly that page. For several pages at once:
- Click the pages one by one. Selected pages get a green frame and a check mark.
- To select a range, click the first page, then Shift + click the last one.
- Click “Delete” in the toolbar or press Delete.
Deleted too much? “Undo” or Ctrl + Z brings the pages back – for the last 50 steps.
Really gone, not just hidden: the saved PDF is rebuilt and contains only the pages on the workspace. Deleted pages don’t linger invisibly in the file. Your original stays untouched – you always download a new file.
If you only want to keep a few pages, it’s often quicker to select those and choose “Selection only” when saving. More on that in Split a PDF.
Rotating pages – permanently
Rotate sideways scans or upside-down pages with the arrow buttons in the toolbar (for all selected pages) or the rotate icon on a single page (90° clockwise). The preview updates immediately.
The difference from many PDF viewers: their “Rotate view” usually only changes the display, and next time the page is crooked again. The PDF Werkstatt saves the rotation in the file.
Technically, it sets the page’s rotation entry (/Rotate in the PDF specification). The page content itself isn’t touched, which makes rotating lossless no matter how often you do it. The PDF specification only allows multiples of 90°, so slightly skewed scans can’t be straightened this way.
Blank pages out, crooked pages straight, order fixed – all in one pass.
Reordering and duplicating pages
- Move: drag a page to its new position. On touch devices, press and hold the page until it lifts.
- Duplicate: select pages and click “Duplicate” – each copy lands right after its original.
- Insert pages from other PDFs: load another PDF with “Add files” and drag its pages into place. See also Merge PDF files.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Click | Select or deselect a page |
| Shift + click | Select a range |
| Ctrl / ⌘ + A | Select all pages |
| Delete / ⌫ | Delete selected pages |
| Ctrl / ⌘ + Z | Undo |
| Esc | Clear the selection |
| Tab, then Space | Move between pages and select them with the keyboard |
Alternatives: Mac, Acrobat, command line
Mac: Preview
Show thumbnails, select a page and press Delete. Rotate with Tools → Rotate Left or Rotate Right, then save.
Adobe Acrobat
Deleting, rotating and reordering live under “Organize Pages” in the paid Acrobat versions. The free Reader only rotates the view.
With qpdf on the command line: remove page 5 (z stands for the last page) and rotate pages 1 to 3 by 90°:
qpdf document.pdf --pages . 1-4,6-z -- without-page-5.pdf
qpdf document.pdf rotated.pdf --rotate=+90:1-3Edit your PDF pages now
Delete, rotate, duplicate and reorder pages – with preview, undo and keyboard shortcuts. Free, in your browser, no upload.
Frequently asked questions
How do I delete a single page from a PDF?
Load the PDF into the PDF Werkstatt, hover over the page and click the trash icon. Then download the PDF again.
Can I restore deleted pages?
Yes, as long as the page is open: “Undo” or Ctrl + Z reverts the last 50 steps. Your original file is never changed anyway.
Is the rotation saved permanently?
Yes. The rotation is stored in the downloaded PDF and applies in every PDF program, not just in one viewer.
Does rotating reduce quality?
No. Only a rotation value is stored for the page; the content itself isn’t recalculated.
Can I rotate by 45° or a few degrees?
No. The PDF specification only allows page rotation in 90° steps. Slightly skewed scans have to be straightened while scanning or in an image editor.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. All changes happen in your browser; the file never leaves your device.
Sources
- Add, delete, or move PDF pages in Preview on Mac, Apple Support.
- qpdf – Running qpdf, command-line documentation.
- PDF, Wikipedia.
- pdf-lib and PDF.js – the open-source libraries the PDF Werkstatt uses in your browser.