We have slide decks, two short videos, and a job aid across three folders. Pull them into a pilot online course bundle…
Open Adobe Acrobat.
Go to File > Combine Files.
Click Add Files and select the PDF files you want to merge.
Arrange the files in your desired order by dragging and dropping them within the list.
Click Combine to merge the selected files into a single PDF document.
Save the new combined PDF to your preferred location.
You can preview and reorder files before combining to ensure the final PDF is in the correct sequence.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
Combining PDFs rarely makes the file smaller because it adds all the data from each file into one. It does not remove information. If you need a smaller file, you should compress the PDF after you combine it. Compressing removes extra data and reduces the quality slightly to make the file smaller, which is useful for sharing.
If your original files already had page numbers, combining them will often cause the numbering to restart with each new file. To fix this, you need to add continuous page numbers to the combined PDF after you create it. Acrobat has tools to add new page numbers across the entire document, overriding the old ones.
| Feature | Result | Ease of Use |
|---|---|---|
| Combine Files (Acrobat) | Creates one single PDF document from all chosen files. Content is merged. | Reader can view all content in one scrollable document. |
| Attach to Email | Sends multiple separate files as attachments. Each file is distinct. | Reader must open each file separately to view content. |
It is important to keep your original files for a few days because you might need to combine them again. If you find a mistake in the combined PDF or need to change the order, having the originals makes it easy to restart the process without losing your work. This saves time and effort.