Top 5 Free PDF Editors for Students in 2024 (Tested)

PDFs are the best choice for editing, annotating, formatting, and sharing documents. They are user-friendly and offer collaboration features and various editing options. In this article, we have covered you with the 5 best free PDF editors for students.

Part 1. No.1 PDF Editor for Students

The best PDF editor for students that stands out in the market is UPDF. Compared to other free PDF editors, this tool offers a wide range of features, including editing, annotating, and converting to various file formats. It also has a user-friendly interface and offers the latest OCR technology. Additionally, it has robust security features such as password protection and encryption to ensure the confidentiality of your documents. You can download the software via the below link to have a look.

You may feel confused about why recommend using UPDF instead of free editors for students. That is because there are many disadvantages to using free ones.

We have listed down certain limitations that free PDF editors impose on the users. Read the list and learn about what to do in that case:

• Limited functionality restricts editing on many files.
• Watermarking makes your document look less professional.
• Imposed editing and converting restrictions on larger files.
• Distracting ads are displayed quite often.
• Very minimal security can be sensitive for important documents.

One of the key take-ups of UPDF is that it does not impose any size limits on PDF documents, which means that you can edit even the largest PDF files. Additionally, it does not add watermarks to edited files, making it suitable for professional use. Moreover, it offers almost all the PDF features you need. Continue to read the key features of this robust tool below.

Features That Make UPDF The #1 PDF Editor

• Convert PDFs to other formats with 100% layout integrity.
• OCR text in PDF with 38 available languages.
• Extract, delete, organize, and add new pages quickly.
• Multiple options to annotate your PDF.
• Edit the existing images effectively.
• Analyze your educational materials with AI, translate, explain, and even generate writing ideas for you.
• Add texts and links with a single click.
• Add watermarks, footer and header, and backgrounds to your PDF.
• Share PDF files via a link, QR code, and email.
• Batch converting, combining, inserting, printing, and encrypting are supported.

Student Discount

Mostly the students need help paying for expensive PDF editors to meet their academic needs. They often require a PDF editor for a low price that can help them in every possible way. For that, UPDF offers a 60% discount to students, making it an affordable and accessible tool for digital learning. You only need to click on the "Buy Now" button and verify your edu email, then, you can get the offer.

Platforms Supported

• Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

You can download the UPDF on any device via the below button. Just test it on your own and judge whether it is what you need.

If you still want to check the best free PDF editors for students, continue reading this article because we have mentioned all those PDF tools in the next part.

Part 2. 5 Best Free PDF Editors for Students

We have often seen students struggling while managing multiple documents together. From taking notes to completing assignments, they must deal with PDF documents at every step. However, managing the tasks can be a hassle if they do not use the right tools. So, for that, discover the list of free PDF editors for students in this section and continue your workflow.

1. PDFescape

This PDF tool offers quite a lot of features. You can add texts, links, images, and form fields using this PDF editor free for students. Moreover, when it comes to customization, you can easily rely on PDFescape to pick the font size, type, color, and alignment, and you can even apply effects of your choice. Students can easily draw on this PDF using the sticky notes and comments features.

PDFescape also lets you deal with specific pages, such as deleting, rotating, or reorganizing any page. Lastly, when you finish your work, you can quickly download your PDF without making a user account.

Free Version Limitations

• Can not edit the already existing texts or images.
• PDFs are only stored for 7 days on your account.
• Limits the document size to 10 MB or 100 pages.
• Unable to compress, combine, edit, or convert to other formats.

Platforms Supported

• Online and Windows

2. Sejda

This PDF Editor for students allows students to edit the preexisting text in PDF without adding a watermark, which sets it apart from other free PDF editors. Other PDF tools typically limit text editing to the text you add yourself, or if they support text editing, they add watermarks throughout the document. Sejda PDF Editor is a web-based tool that can be easily accessed without downloads.

Another noteworthy aspect of Sejda PDF Editor is its web integration tool, which allows the students to share a link with fellow members. The file will automatically open in this editor by simply clicking the link.

Free Version Limitations

• Only documents with less than 200 pages can be edited.
• It is limited to 3 PDFs per hour.
• Unable to edit files larger than 50 MB.
• All the uploaded files are deleted automatically after 2 hours.

Platforms Supported

• Online, Windows, MacOS, and Linux

3. Smallpdf

If you are looking to quickly add texts, images, signatures, or shapes to your document, Smallpdf is the best option. This tool’s online and free version allows you to upload a PDF from your device, make changes, and save it without signing up. You can also upload or open files from your Google Drive account or Dropbox. Students can also add shapes and change the text sizes and colors.

This tool lets you download and save the final document anywhere and generate a shareable PDF link to let others download it directly.

Free Version Limitations

• The text editing option is not available.
• You can only edit 1 PDF within 24 hours.
• No file storage is available.
• Ads are not banned in the free version.

Platform Supported

• Online, Windows, iOS, and Android

4. iLovePDF

With this PDF editor for students free, they can combine PDF files in their wanted order or eliminate unwanted pages from the files. The platform's functionality lets users add text, shapes, and images to their documentation pages. Font color and size can also be easily edited. Users can use the stamp feature to add any image they choose for official PDF documents.

Moreover, the platform allows for conversion from PDF to various formats and from other formats to PDF. Users can remove password protection from any PDF or add password protection for enhanced security.

Free Version Limitations

• Converting PDF to Word using OCR is not available.
• Students cannot upload signatures on documents.
• No dedicated hardware.
• A limited number of batch processing.

Supported Platform

• Online, Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS

5. PDF2Go

This PDF editor for students provides a simple and efficient solution for converting PDF files to various formats. Additionally, it supports conversion from other formats to PDF as well. Its user-friendly PDF editor is easy to navigate, even for those without experience. PDF2Go can optimize PDFs for web pages, allowing easy online viewing without local downloading.

The tool also allows users to remove password protection from PDF files without a password. With PDF2Go, users can resize the pages of their PDF documents, including the option to use a customized page size.

Free Version Limitations

• Task priority is queued.
• Ads are an issue.
• Not allowed to add e-sign.
• No text-to-speech option.

Supported Platform

• Online and Windows

Part 3. FAQS About PDF Editor for Students

If you are a student and need help managing your academic documents, we hope the guide above helped you. But if you still have some queries, go through the FAQs below:

1. Is there a totally free PDF editor?

No, there is no totally free PDF editor. You get many options to edit and annotate the texts in PDFs in the free version, but you still get limited to many features. Moreover, there also comes a watermark on your documents if you edit them using a free version.

2. Is it free to edit PDFs on Adobe?

Adobe does not allow users to edit PDFs for free. When you click on the "Edit" icon, it asks you to be a premium member, and you have to pay the subscription amount to start editing the documents.

3. How to get Adobe Acrobat free for students

Adobe Acrobat is not free for students, but it offers discounts to students. As a student, you have to pay $19.99 per month to start using the various features.

4. How can I make a PDF editable for students?

Making a PDF editable can be difficult, and most tools do not offer this option. However, with UPDF, you can easily PDFs without any fuss. Follow the steps below to activate the editing mode:

Step 1: Launch and Import PDF

Click the below button to download UPDF. Launch UPDF on your Windows or Mac and click “Open File” to browse the required PDF. Afterward, click the “Open” button to import it into UPDF.

Step 2: Head to Edit PDF Option

Following this, in the top-left panel, click the "Edit PDF" icon to make the PDF editable. This will allow you to edit the text, images, and links present in your document.

5. What is the best free PDF editor for Android

UPDF is the best free PDF editor for Android as it is completely free, and you can easily modify documents and share them via email hassle-freely.

Final Words

To sum up, the availability of a free PDF editor for students is very beneficial for them. Each of these editors mentioned above offers unique features and benefits. Additionally, all these editors are 100% free, making them accessible to all students. Moreover, we recommend using UPDF as an all-in-one platform to resolve all your document editing-related queries. Try it now via the below link.