What is PDFsam Basic?
PDFsam Basic is a free and open source app that splits and merges PDF files on your own computer, with no watermarks and no size limits. It also rotates, mixes and extracts pages. Everything runs locally so your files are never uploaded and no internet connection is needed.
The source code is public, so anyone can verify how it handles PDF files. If you want an open source way to split, merge or combine PDFs offline, this is it.
Free · Open source since 2006 · Files never leave your computer · Windows, macOS and Linux
What can PDFsam Basic do?
PDFsam Basic includes six tools: merge, split, mix, rotate, extract pages and insert pages.
PDF merge
Merge is the most used PDFsam Basic module and lets you combine PDF files together
Page ranges
Input PDF files can be merged completely or partially. A page selection can be set in the form of comma separated page intervals (Ex. 1-10, 14, 25-) letting you specify what pages you want to merge for every input PDF file
Bookmarks
Set what to do with the bookmarks of the merged PDF files. You can merge them together, discard them to keep the resulting file smaller or create a new bookmarks tree with one entry for every merged PDF file
AcroForms
Set what to do with AcroForms when they are found in the input PDF file. You can discard them but also merge them into a new form or even merge them renaming fields with name clashes
Table of contents
Add a table of contents at the beginning of the generated PDF. A list of clickable entries will let you easily navigate through the merged PDF files
PDF split
Split at predefined pages
The selected PDF file can be split after every page, generating a new document for every page in the original file, or after every even or odd page
Split specifying pages
Specify the page numbers where you want to break your document. You can even tell PDFsam to split the PDF every n pages
PDF Split by size
Divide PDF files into smaller ones of a given size (roughly)
PDF Split by bookmarks
Select the outline (bookmarks) level you want to split at and your PDF file will be divided at every page pointed by the bookmarks at the selected level
Interleave PDF pages
Combine the odd and even pages from a single-sided scanner or interleave pages from two or more PDFs in straight or reverse order.
Rotate PDF
The PDF Rotate module lets you rotate PDF files by simply selecting the files you want to rotate and apply a rotation of 90, 180 or 270 degrees to all or some of their pages
Extract pages
The Extract module lets you extract pages from PDF files. Single pages or page ranges can be selected to create a new PDF file containing only the pages you need
Insert pages multiple times
This tool allows you to insert the same pdf file (or some of its pages) multiple times within another file, specifying every how many pages the new PDF should be inserted
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free, open source tool to split and merge PDF files?
Yes. PDFsam Basic is a free, open source desktop app that splits and merges PDF files on Windows, macOS and Linux. It is released under the AGPL license, it adds no watermarks and has no file size limit. Your files stay on your computer and are never uploaded to a server.
Can I split and merge PDF files without uploading them to a website?
Yes. PDFsam Basic runs entirely on your own computer, so nothing gets uploaded and no internet connection is needed. This is the main difference from online PDF tools, which need you to send your PDF documents to their server.
Can I merge and split PDF files on Linux?
Yes. PDFsam Basic runs on Linux, as well as on Windows and macOS. It is a desktop application you download and install, and it offers the same tools on every platform. There is no browser version and your files are processed on your computer.
Is PDFsam Basic safe?
Yes. PDFsam Basic is open source, so anyone can inspect its code, and it has been developed since 2006. Download it from the official pdfsam.org website. Because it works fully offline, your files never leave your computer.
Looking for more? PDFsam Visual has more than 25 tools, many with visual page thumbnails, or check out PDFsam Enhanced if you need a fully fledged PDF editor