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PDFs & Documents
Combine, split, shrink, scan, and sign PDFs - plus the document problems that turn up across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
16 guides in this category.
How-To Guides
- How to Co-Author Documents in Real Time - Collaborate in real time by co-authoring Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. Learn how to share files and track edits with your team.
- How to Combine and Merge PDF Files for Free - Safely merge multiple PDF documents into a single file using free built-in tools or IT-approved software.
- How to Copy Text from a Scanned PDF or Picture - Copy text out of a scanned PDF, photo, or screenshot with free Windows tools — Snipping Tool, OneNote, and Word's built-in OCR.
- How to Extract a Single Page from a Large PDF Document - Save one or more pages from a massive PDF file as a new, smaller PDF using only your web browser.
- How to Fill Out a PDF Form Without Printing It - Type your answers straight into a PDF form on screen with free tools already on your PC — whether the form is fillable or a flat scan.
- How to Manage PDF Files - Combine, sign, annotate, and compress PDF documents on Windows. Use built-in tools like Microsoft Edge without paying for Adobe Acrobat Pro.
- How to Open PDFs and Office Files in Desktop Apps Instead of the Browser - Open PDFs and Office files directly in desktop applications like Word and Acrobat instead of browser tabs. Configure Edge and Chrome settings.
- How to Password-Protect a PDF or Word Document - Add an open password to a Word document, Excel workbook, or PDF with tools you already have — and why a forgotten password is unrecoverable.
- How to Redact Sensitive Information from a PDF - Remove sensitive text from a PDF so it cannot be copied back out, and verify it worked — a black box hides nothing and leaks real data.
- How to Scan a Document to PDF or Email from a Network Copier - Scan paper documents to PDF or email using your office copier or multifunction printer. Step-by-step for common brands.
- How to Shrink a Large PDF File Size for Emailing - Compress a massive PDF file so it easily fits under the standard 25MB email attachment limit using built-in or free tools.
- How to Sign a Document Electronically - Sign documents sent through DocuSign or Adobe Acrobat Sign, send documents out for signature, and pick the right kind of signature for the job.
Troubleshooting
- Fix a PDF That Won't Print Correctly - Get a PDF printing properly again when pages come out blank, garbled or cropped, using Print As Image and six other fixes that need no admin rights.
- How to Fix "File Locked for Editing by Another User" in Office - Fix the file locked for editing by another user message in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, including phantom locks when nobody actually has the file open.
- How to Fix "Protected View" Blocking Documents in Office - Fix Protected View warnings that block editing in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with safe, user-level steps.
Explainers
- Understanding Document File Formats (.docx, .pdf, and More) - Know at a glance which file formats you can edit, which are fixed like paper, and which one to send so the other person can open it.