How to Merge PDF Files on Mac (Free, No Upload)

By NUR Technologies · · 4 min read

Contracts, invoices, scans, homework: sooner or later you need several PDFs as one. Many online mergers upload your documents to someone else’s server. On a Mac you do not have to.

Merge PDFs with Preview (free, built in)

  1. Open the first PDFDouble-click it to open it in Preview.
  2. Show thumbnailsChoose View > Thumbnails so the page sidebar appears.
  3. Drag in the other PDFDrag the second PDF file from Finder into the sidebar, where you want its pages to go. Drag thumbnails to reorder pages.
  4. Save the resultChoose File > Export as PDF and give the merged file a new name, so your originals stay safe.

Merge with Rivet

Rivet is a Mac app just for PDFs. Its Merge tool takes several PDFs into one, lets you reorder them by dragging and can sort them by name. Everything runs on your Mac.

  1. Open MergeDrop your PDFs on the Rivet home screen and choose Merge.
  2. Order themDrag the files into the order you want, or sort by name.
  3. SavePress the main button and save the merged PDF.

Rivet also splits, reorders, rotates, compresses and runs a batch of steps over whole folders, so the same app covers what usually needs several tools.

FAQ

Can I merge PDFs on a Mac without installing anything?

Yes. Preview can combine PDFs by dragging one into the sidebar of another.

Is it safe to merge PDFs online?

Online tools upload your files to a server. If the documents are private, merge them locally on your Mac.

Does Rivet upload my files?

No. Everything runs on your Mac and there is no account.

What does Rivet need?

Rivet requires macOS 26 or later.

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