On your device
How to merge PDF files on Android
By DeckleUpdated
To merge PDF files on Android, open Merge PDFs in Chrome, tap Select files, choose the PDFs, put them in order and tap Merge PDFs. Deckle creates one new PDF on your phone and leaves the originals unchanged. There is no app to install, and the files are processed on the phone rather than uploaded.
How to merge PDFs on Android with Deckle
- Open Merge PDFs in Chrome, or another browser.
- Tap Select files and choose two or more PDFs. The picker shows your phone's storage and any cloud apps that offer files to it.
- Check the ticks under Files to merge. Only ticked files are joined.
- Put the files in order with the arrow buttons next to each row, or type a position and tap Move to. Tap Add PDFs if you forgot one.
- Optional: change Output PDF name. It starts as
merged.pdf. - Tap Merge PDFs. The button stays disabled until two files are ticked and says what is missing.
- Download the merged PDF and open it to check the first page of each file.
The result screen tells you how many pages were combined from how many files, so you can check that nothing is missing.
Find your PDFs
On Android, PDFs usually live in Downloads (attachments and browser downloads), Documents or a folder made by a scanner app. Files by Google, for example, saves scans in Documents > Scanned, as Google explains in How to scan documents with Files by Google. An attachment you haven't downloaded from your email app needs saving to the phone first.
Put all the files for one merge in the same folder, and they are quicker to pick in one go.
Does Android have a built-in PDF merge?
Not in Google's own file apps. Google's page Open, manage & edit PDFs in Files by Google lists what Files by Google does with a PDF: open it, print it, find text in it, move it to the Safe folder, and mark it up with pen and highlighter, saving the marked copy separately. It does not describe combining files. Use a browser tool such as Deckle, or a dedicated PDF app.
Order and quality
Deckle joins whole files from the top of the list to the bottom. It doesn't sort by name or date, so read the list before you merge. Each file keeps its page sizes and rotation, and pages are copied without re-compression, so text stays sharp.
Example: a claim pack of a 2-page form, a 1-page receipt and a 4-page report gives a 7-page PDF. If the result screen says 6, one file was unticked.
For more, see how to merge PDF files in the right order.
Tips
- Convert photos first. Merge PDFs takes PDFs only. Turn photos into a PDF with JPG to PDF; see how to convert photos to PDF on Android.
- Unlock protected files. A PDF that asks for a password needs an unlocked copy from Unlock PDF.
- Use the arrow buttons. You can drag a row by its handle after a short press, but the arrows are more precise on a small screen.
- Merge in batches on older phones. Very large merges use a lot of memory. If Chrome slows down, merge in parts and then merge the parts.
Frequently asked questions
How do I combine PDF files on my Android phone for free?
Open Merge PDFs in Chrome, choose the files, arrange them and tap Merge PDFs.
Are my files uploaded?
No. The PDFs are merged in the browser on your phone.
Where does the merged PDF go?
Where you choose to save it, if your browser asks; otherwise to your browser's download location, usually the Downloads folder.
Does merging keep bookmarks?
No. Bookmarks from the source files are not carried into the merged PDF.
Can I merge only some of the files I picked?
Yes. Untick a file under Files to merge to leave it out without closing it. Only ticked files go into the merged PDF.
Will merging reduce the quality of my PDFs?
No. Pages are copied as they are, so text stays selectable and images are not recompressed. The merged file is roughly the size of the sources combined.
Related tools
- Merge PDFs to combine whole files
- JPG to PDF to turn photos into PDFs first
- Split PDF to take pages out before merging