Files are processed in your browser, not uploaded. Privacy →
Deckle
Open a PDF
Skip to guide

On your device

How to merge PDF files on a Chromebook

By DeckleUpdated

To merge PDF files on a Chromebook, open Merge PDFs in Chrome, drag the PDFs from the Files app onto the page, put them in order and choose Merge PDFs. Deckle creates one new PDF and leaves the originals unchanged. It runs in the browser, so nothing needs to be installed, which helps on school and work Chromebooks.

Merge PDF
Illustrated document pages containing a chart, photograph and text.
Illustration · a document can contain more than its visible pages.

How to merge PDFs on a Chromebook with Deckle

  1. Open Merge PDFs in Chrome.
  2. Open the Files app, select the PDFs and drag them onto the page, or choose Select files and pick them. You need at least two.
  3. Check the ticks under Files to merge. Only ticked files go into the merged PDF.
  4. Put the files in order. Drag a row by its handle, use the arrow buttons, or type a position and choose Move to.
  5. Optional: change Output PDF name. It starts as merged.pdf.
  6. Choose Merge PDFs. The button stays disabled until two files are ticked and says what is missing.
  7. Download the file. Chrome opens a save dialogue, so you can choose Downloads or a Google Drive folder.
  8. Open the new PDF from the Files app and check the first page of each source.

The result screen tells you how many pages were combined from how many PDFs, such as "6 pages combined from 3 PDFs".

Files in Google Drive

The Files app on a Chromebook shows your Google Drive alongside My files, so you can choose PDFs from Drive in the same picker. Deckle reads the files you pick in the browser; it has no direct connection to your Drive account. When you download the merged PDF, the save dialogue lists Google Drive in its left column, so you can choose Google Drive and then My Drive to save it there. Google describes that dialogue in Open, save, or delete files on your Chromebook. For the full Drive workflow, see how to merge PDFs stored in Google Drive.

Does ChromeOS have a built-in PDF merge?

PDFs on a Chromebook open in the Gallery app by default. Google's page Check, edit & sign PDFs describes what Gallery can do: add text, annotate, add a signature, rotate pages, change their order, print, and save the result over the same file or as a new one. It does not describe combining several PDFs, so use a browser tool such as Deckle for that.

Order and what merging keeps

Deckle joins whole files in the order of the list, from top to bottom. It doesn't sort by file name, so put the cover or first document at the top yourself. Each file keeps its page sizes and rotation. Pages are copied without re-compression, so text stays selectable. Bookmarks from the source files are not carried into the merged PDF.

Example: a homework submission of a 1-page cover sheet, a 3-page typed answer and a 2-page PDF of photographed working gives a 6-page file. See how to merge PDF files in the right order for more.

Tips

  • Convert photos first. Merge PDFs takes PDFs only. Turn photos into a PDF with JPG to PDF; see how to convert JPG to PDF on a Chromebook.
  • Fix pages with Gallery or Deckle afterwards. To reorder pages inside the merged file, change the order in Gallery, or use Organize PDF pages, which saves a new copy.
  • Unlock protected files. A PDF that asks for a password needs an unlocked copy from Unlock PDF.
  • Merge in batches on low-memory Chromebooks. Very large merges use a lot of memory; combine in parts if Chrome slows down.

Frequently asked questions

How do I combine PDFs on a school Chromebook?

Open Merge PDFs in Chrome, add the files, arrange them and choose Merge PDFs. Nothing needs to be installed.

Are my files uploaded?

No. The PDFs are merged in Chrome on your Chromebook.

Where does the merged PDF go?

Wherever you choose in the save dialogue. Downloads is the usual choice; Google Drive is in the same list. If the dialogue can't open, Chrome saves the file to your default download folder, which is Downloads unless you changed it.

Can I merge only some pages?

Not directly. Take the pages out first with Split PDF, then merge them.

Will merging reduce the quality of my PDFs?

No. Pages are copied as they are, so text stays selectable and images are not recompressed.

How many PDFs can I merge?

At least two. You can add up to 100 files in one drop and add more afterwards. Very large sets are limited by the Chromebook's memory rather than a fixed number.

Related tools

Sources