I have several PDF documents that I need to combine into one file for a project, but I’m not sure what the simplest method is on a Mac. I’m open to built-in solutions or third-party tools. Does anyone have step-by-step advice or recommendations for this? Thanks in advance for any tips.
Preview is your best friend here (and probably the only Mac feature I use on a regular basis that actually feels like magic, lol). Here’s how you do it:
- Open the first PDF in Preview.
- If the thumbnails aren’t showing, hit View > Thumbnails.
- Go File > Edit > Insert > Page from File… and pick the other PDFs you wanna smush together.
- Drag the thumbnails around if you want to change the page order. (Yes, you can mix them up.)
- Once it looks right, do File > Export as PDF… and give that beautiful Frankenstein PDF a name.
No extra apps needed, no weird online converters that wanna steal your data, just good old Preview. Unless you’re sticking, like, 300 files together—then maybe splurge on a real PDF editor or Adobe Acrobat if you like burning money. But for most usage, Mac’s built-in stuff totally handles it.
Honestly, I get that Preview is super handy (totally with @nachtdromer there—magic is right). But I gotta admit, sometimes Preview acts glitchy if you have a bunch of huge PDFs or you’re working with scanned docs and it’s sloooow as heck. Also, the “Insert Pages” thing is great, but it gets messy if you wanna merge lots of files from different folders, cause opening them one by one gets annoying.
If you’re juggling more than just a couple PDFs, I’d say try a dedicated tool anyway. PDFsam Basic (free and open source) is a lifesaver for bulk merges. Drag, drop, arrange, boom, merged file. No Adobe subscription blackmail needed. And yeah, technically it’s third party, but it’s not one of those sketchy online deals.
Zero shade on Preview though, it’s pretty clutch for most people, I just get ticked when it starts spinning the beachball of death. Speaking from many late night deadline merges. 
So: For <5 files and not huge? Preview = yes. For messy, big, or batch jobs? PDFsam or even SmallPDF (web, just watch your file size and don’t upload private stuff). Also, don’t forget, Finder lets you create PDFs from several selected files using Quick Actions, but it’ll just squash them as images, so formatting goes poof.
Clunky, I know, but hey, at least Macs don’t force-feed you bloatware PDF editors like some OSes…
If you’re after pure efficiency and don’t want to babysit Preview as it chews through gigabytes of scans, PDF Expert is another route worth eyeballing. Pros? It’s slick, well-designed, handles monster PDFs without freezing your Mac, and has smart merge tools (drag, drop, reorder, done). Editing, signing, annotating—you get all of that, too, without the random slowdowns or half-baked thumbnail bugginess that can hit Preview. Drawback? It’s paid, which immediately puts off folks who just want a basic stitch-up, but there’s a trial if you’re just merging now and then.
In terms of downsides—the price tag on PDF Expert isn’t tiny (especially compared to totally free stuff like the PDFsam basics nachtdromer mentioned). For one-off, non-sensitive merges, I’m on board with the PDFsam/Preview suggestions above; but for anyone who merges PDFs as a semi-regular thing, or deals with sensitive material that shouldn’t hit the web, PDF Expert wins points for both power and privacy.
A quick comparison: PDF Expert vs Preview (vegetarian/quick wins), vs PDFsam (free, geeky, batch ninja). PDF Expert shines with speed, more export options, reliability on big files, but makes your wallet a bit lighter. Preview is built-in, dead easy for simple jobs, can stutter on bulk merges, and PDFsam’s bulk merge automates the repetitive stuff well, though the interface feels old-school.
Final tip: Avoid Finder’s “Create PDF” Quick Action for multipage docs—it mashes everything into images, trashing any selectable/searchable text. Only use for casual reference, not for real document combining where you want to preserve text.
Bottom line: Merging PDFs on a Mac? Preview for the quick and easy, PDFsam for batching and free, PDF Expert for pro features and smooth operation—pick your battle.