How to Delete, Rotate and Reorder PDF Pages Online

Scans arrive with blank pages, sideways pages and pages in the wrong order. This guide shows how to fix each problem with free tools that run in your browser, and how to do all three in one pass.

What you can and cannot do here

It helps to be clear about the tools. Delete PDF pages removes the pages you select. Rotate PDF turns pages a quarter turn at a time. Organize PDF does everything in one view: drag pages into a new order, rotate, duplicate or delete them, add blank pages, and insert pages from another PDF. Every tool shows a small picture of each page, so you can see what you are changing.

Delete pages from a PDF

1. Open Delete PDF pages and choose your file. A thumbnail of every page appears with its number.
2. Tap each page you want to remove, or type them, for example 2, 6-9. Marked pages are greyed out.
3. Press Delete pages. The new file downloads with -edited added to its name.
4. Scroll through the new file to confirm the right pages are gone.

The numbers are positions in the file, not necessarily the printed page numbers. If your document has a cover, the printed page 1 may be page 2 of the file. The tool will not let you remove every page, and your original file is never changed.

Typical uses: dropping a blank page that a scanner inserted between double-sided sheets, removing a cover sheet or advertisement from a downloaded document, or deleting a page that contains information you do not want to share. For that last case, remember that deleting whole pages works, but hiding part of a page needs redaction.

Rotate PDF pages

Pages that open sideways usually came from a scanner or phone app that guessed the orientation wrongly. To fix them:

1. Open Rotate PDF and choose your file.
2. Tap a sideways page to turn it 90 degrees clockwise, or use the left and right arrows on its thumbnail. Tap twice for an upside-down page. Rotate all turns every page at once.
3. Check the thumbnails: they show the result before you save.
4. Press Rotate PDF. The new file downloads with -rotated added to its name.

Rotation is lossless: only the page’s orientation setting changes, so quality stays exactly the same and the new orientation shows in every PDF reader. Rotation does not straighten a slightly crooked scan, and it does not make a blurry scan sharper.

Reorder PDF pages with Organize PDF

Suppose page 5 should be the first page of your 8-page document.

1. Open Organize PDF and choose your file.
2. Drag page 5 by its handle to the front. On a phone, the arrow buttons on each page move it one place at a time.
3. Rotate, duplicate or delete any other page with the buttons on its thumbnail, add a blank page if you need a separator, or use Add PDF to bring in pages from another file.
4. Press Save PDF. The pages are saved in exactly the order shown.

For a large reshuffle it helps to write down the final order before you start, then work from the front of the document to the back.

Worked example: cleaning up a scanned application

A family scans a 12-page application on a flatbed scanner. When they open the result, page 3 is blank, pages 7 and 8 are upside down, and the signature page (page 12) was meant to be at page 10.

1. They open Organize PDF and delete page 3.
2. They rotate the two upside-down pages twice each, checking the thumbnails.
3. They drag the signature page to its correct position.
4. They save, scroll through the final file, compare it with the paper copy, and send it.

Because everything happens in one view, the page numbers never shift under them. If you use the separate tools instead, a helpful rule is: delete first, rotate second, reorder last, because deleting a page changes the numbers of everything after it.

Mistakes to avoid

• Using old page numbers after a deletion. After you delete a page in a separate run, the later pages shift down by one.
• Rotating the wrong way. Look at the thumbnail before you save; it shows the result.
• Overwriting the original. The tools create new files. Keep the original until the new file is confirmed good.
• Forgetting hidden content. Deleting a page removes it completely, but cropping only hides content. Use redaction for parts of a page.

Troubleshooting

The tool asks for a password. Type the password you use to open the PDF. The new file is not locked.

The file will not load. It may be damaged. Try Repair PDF first.

I cannot tell similar pages apart. Thumbnails are small. Open the file in a PDF viewer alongside the tool and match page numbers to content.

The result is larger than I expected. The new file contains the pages you kept, with all their images. Delete more pages or follow the size-reduction guide.

Page positions and printed page numbers

The tools number pages by their position in the file, counting from 1. Printed page numbers often differ, for example when a report has a cover and a contents page before page 1. The thumbnails help you spot the right page; if the printed numbers and positions disagree, trust the position, because that is what the tools use.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

• Guide to Splitting PDFs: Page Ranges, Batch Cuts & Avoiding Numbering Mistakes
• How to Merge PDF Files Online for Free (No Upload)
• How to Redact a PDF: Black Out Sensitive Information

Written by the iLoveDocuments team and checked against how the tools behave today. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it. See our editorial standards.