With iOS on-board tools, quick actions can be carried out in PDF documents, for example to remove certain pages or add new ones.
Question: I often have to make quick changes to a PDF document, such as deleting individual pages. Sometimes I also want to insert the content of another PDF document into an existing PDF. On the Mac, I do all of this with Apple’s Preview. How to solve this on iPhone and iPad?
Mac & i replies: Although “Preview” is not available for iOS and iPadOS, Apple has integrated many of the tool’s useful functions over time into the file preview called “Quick Look”, which is part of the operating system.
Apple uses the framework in in-house apps such as Mail and Files. When you tap certain files in it, Quick Look does the work. Apps from third-party developers can also integrate Quick Look and thus provide Apple’s basic tools for editing text files, images, iWork and Office documents as well as PDFs.
Use Apple’s PDF tool on iPhones
With iPadOS 15, Apple has significantly expanded the built-in functions for editing PDF documents. On the iPad, after opening the PDF, you will find the functions in the automatically displayed overview bar at the edge, which shows all pages in small format. The useful tools are now also available on the iPhone, but they are hidden: In the open PDF, swipe your finger from the far left of the screen edge to the right to open the page thumbnails.
Select a page and tap on the button with the three dots. On both the iPhone and iPad, it opens a context menu that you can use to delete individual pages, add to an empty page, or insert content from another file. Apple has also integrated a scan function on the mobile devices: You can use the camera to read a paper document directly and insert it as a new page in the PDF at the desired location.
For more extensive work with PDF documents, we would go to an app like PDF expert guess. Many functions can already be used in the free version, including filling out PDF forms.
