Find and Replace Text in PDF
This tool finds a word or phrase inside a PDF and swaps it for new text, then ha
This tool finds a word or phrase inside a PDF and swaps it for new text, then ha
How to use Find and Replace Text in PDF
- Choose a text-based PDF file from your device.
- Type the text to find and the text to replace it with, and pick whether the match is case-sensitive.
- Click Find and replace, then download your edited PDF.
About Find and Replace Text in PDF
This tool finds a word or phrase inside a PDF and swaps it for new text, then hands you back an edited copy to download. It edits the actual text stored in the file — not a sticker pasted on top — so the replacement keeps the original position and font, and the rest of the page is left exactly as it was. It is handy for quick fixes like updating a year, a name, a price, or a version number without reopening the document in the software that made it.
It works by reading each page's content streams, decoding the text runs (both plain and hex-encoded), replacing every match, and rewriting the file. That means it works best on PDFs that were exported from a real document — invoices, letters, contracts, forms. It cannot touch text that lives inside a scanned image, and some PDFs use subset fonts that store glyph codes instead of readable characters, where a search will simply find nothing. The replacement keeps the original text's starting position, so a word that is noticeably longer than the one it replaces can overlap what comes after it — the tool warns you when that is likely.
Everything runs locally in your browser using the pdf-lib library. Your file is never uploaded, so it is safe to use on confidential documents. Password-protected PDFs must be unlocked first, since encrypted files can't be edited.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this really edit the text, or just draw over it?
- It edits the real text stored inside the PDF's page content, not an overlay box. The replacement inherits the original character's position and font, and nothing is stamped on top of the old text.
- Why can't it find text I can clearly see on the page?
- Two common reasons: the text is part of a scanned image (a picture of words, not real text), or the PDF uses a subset font that stores glyph codes instead of readable characters. In both cases there is no searchable text to match, so nothing is replaced.
- Will the replacement mess up my layout?
- Each replacement starts at the exact position of the text it replaces and keeps the same font, so same-length or shorter replacements look clean. A replacement that is much longer can overlap the text that follows it, because PDF text does not automatically reflow. The tool warns you when your new text is longer.
- Is my PDF uploaded anywhere?
- No. All reading and editing happens in your browser using JavaScript. The file never leaves your device, which makes it safe for confidential documents.
- Can it replace every occurrence at once?
- Yes. It replaces every matching run of characters across all pages in one pass and tells you how many occurrences it changed. You can choose whether the match is case-sensitive.
- It says my PDF is password-protected — what do I do?
- Encrypted PDFs can't be edited here. Open the file in a PDF viewer with the password, use Print then Save as PDF to make an unprotected copy, and run that copy through the tool.