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27 July 2023  Jennifer Thatcher  Technology Manager of Test Dept.
Last update by Olivia Brown at 22 April 2024

Summary
Learn how to combine pdfs in preview on a Mac system with this detailed guide. Discover the step-by-step process for merging PDFs on MacOS.



Table of contents

table iconI. The method of merging PDF on Mac system
table iconII. PDF merge tool for Windows: Renee PDF Aide
combine pdfs in preview

I. The method of merging PDF on Mac system

Merging PDFs on the Mac system is a relatively simple matter. You only need to use the “Preview” program to operate. The following is the specific method of merging.

1. Merge two PDFs

① To open a PDF in Preview, click the Show icon, and select Thumbnails to view page thumbnails in the sidebar.
merge PDF on Mac
② To merge another PDF under a specific page, select the page’s thumbnail on the left and click “Edit” > “Insert” > “Page from file”.
③ To merge PDF documents, first select the PDF you desire to add by navigating through the file dialog box. Once located, click Open. The new PDF page will automatically appear beneath the thumbnail of the page you previously selected, thus effectively merging the two PDFs.
④ Finally, click (File) > (Export as PDF) to save the merged PDF file.
merge PDF on Mac

2. Merge partial pages of a PDF with another PDF

① Begin by opening the PDFs you want to merge using “Preview.” In Preview, go to View > Thumbnails to display the page thumbnails in the sidebar for each PDF.
② Press and hold the Command key ⌘, select the page thumbnails you want to include in another PDF by clicking on them, then drag them into the sidebar of the target PDF and drop them at the desired location. To save the merged file, click on ‘File’ > ‘Export as PDF’.
Note: If you’re using macOS Sierra or earlier, you can drag a thumbnail directly onto a thumbnail in another PDF.
Merge partial pages of a PDF
To merge PDFs on a Mac, utilize the “Preview” application—it’s efficient and user-friendly. For Windows users, alternative tools are necessary to merge PDFs. Subsequently, we will delve into a versatile tool for merging, editing, and converting PDFs.

II. PDF merge tool for Windows: Renee PDF Aide

1. What is Renee PDF Aide?

Renee PDF Aide is a versatile software that combines PDF editing and format conversion. It features a user-friendly interface with numerous capabilities, including the ability to fix damaged PDFs, optimize large file loading times, split or merge PDFs, rotate their view, encrypt/decrypt, and add multifaceted watermarks. Moreover, it allows for the conversion of PDFs into popular formats like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Image, HTML, and TXT. The software supports rapid conversion of entire documents or selected pages, achieving speeds of up to 80 pages per minute.
Renee PDF Aide boasts state-of-the-art OCR technology, with multilingual support encompassing English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Opt for the relevant OCR language to substantially improve the accuracy of character recognition in scanned documents or images.
Renee PDF Aide - Powerful PDF Converting/Editing Tool (100 FREE Quota)

Convert to Editable Convert to Word/Excel/PPT/Text/Image/Html/Epub

Multifunctional Encrypt/decrypt/split/merge/add watermark

OCR Support Extract Text from Scanned PDFs, Images & Embedded Fonts

Quick Convert dozens of PDF files in batch

Compatible Support Windows 11/10/8/8.1/Vista/7/XP/2K

Convert to Editable Word/Excel/PPT/Text/Image/Html/Epub

OCR Support Extract Text from Scanned PDFs, Images & Embedded

Support Windows 11/10/8/8.1/Vista/7/XP/2K

Free TrialFree TrialNow 800 people have obtained the free version!

2. How to merge PDF files with Renee PDF Aide?

The PDF merging function of Renee PDF Aide is exceptionally user-friendly, providing the capability to seamlessly combine and save selected pages from one or multiple PDFs into a unified document. To utilize this feature, simply follow the steps below:
Step 1: Download, install and open Renee PDF Aide, then select (PDF Tools)
select pdf tools in renee pdf converter
Step 2: Click Merge > Add File to import your initial PDF. To combine additional PDFs, select Add File as needed for each file.
merge pdf files with renee pdf aide
Step 3: From the “Pages to Merge” drop-down, choose All for merging all pages, or select Use Page String Generator to pick pages manually or employ the software’s auto-merge features.
merge PDF files with Renee PDF Aide
Step 4: Select the merged pages and click Convert to export. Upon a successful merge, a prompt will appear allowing you to open or preview the file, or you can close the window.
pdf merge files
The Renee PDF Aide’s “PDF Tools” provides an extensive range of editing capabilities, such as merging, repairing, compressing, rotating, and encrypting PDFs with ease. Additionally, its “Convert PDF” feature enables users to efficiently transform PDFs into various formats including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Image, HTML, and TXT, accommodating a wide array of requirements.
Description of the PDF tools

  • Repair: Repair damaged or unopenable PDF files.
  • Optimize: Optimize PDF files that take a long time to load, and compress large file PDFs.
  • Split: Split multi-page PDF files into multiple files or one as required.
  • Rotate: Adjust the display angle of PDF files.
  • Encrypt/Decrypt: PDF can be encrypted, locked and decrypted.
  • Watermark: Add foreground watermark/background watermark to PDF file, watermark can choose picture or PDF document.
  • Image to PDF: Convert multiple or single pictures into multiple or single PDF files.