# PDFBetter Help Center > Product documentation for PDFBetter (pdfbetter.com), an online PDF editor with fillable forms, e-signatures, conversions and AI that cites the page it read. Every article is written from how the product actually works, including what it does not do yet. Prices and limits come from the live plan settings. - Every article is also available as Markdown: add `.md` to its URL (https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/request-signatures.md). - Search API (no key, JSON): https://pdfbetter.com/api/help/search/?q=your+question - Agents connected to PDFBetter over MCP can call the `search_help` and `get_help_article` tools. - Product facts and pricing: https://pdfbetter.com/llms.txt and https://pdfbetter.com/ai-facts/ - A person: https://pdfbetter.com/contact/ or support@pdfbetter.com ## Getting started Your first document, the dashboard, guest drafts and what happens when you sign up. - [What PDFBetter is and the fastest way to start](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/what-is-pdfbetter.md): PDFBetter is a PDF editor in your browser: edit text, fill forms, sign, request signatures, convert, organize pages and ask AI questions with page citations. The fastest start is to drop a PDF on the home page or the dashboard; it opens in the editor. - [Quick start: fill and sign your first PDF in 5 minutes](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/quick-start-fill-and-sign-pdf.md): Open the PDF, click each field and type (Tab moves to the next), click Sign → Add signature, place it, then Done → Download. Without an account you can do everything except the download, which asks you to create a free account first. - [Get help inside PDFBetter: the help panel, search and support](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/get-help-in-the-app.md): In the dashboard, click the question mark in the top bar or Help & support in the sidebar. The panel shows Help for this page, a search box and every topic. In the editor, use More (⋯) → Help center. A person answers at support@pdfbetter.com. - [Use PDFBetter without an account](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/use-pdfbetter-without-account.md): You can open every tool without signing up. Browser tools (merge, split, rotate, images to PDF and more) download free. Edits you make in the editor are a guest draft kept for 1 hour; downloading, sharing or sending them needs a free account. - [Create an account and keep your guest drafts](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/create-account-keep-drafts.md): Click Create free account (or Keep my drafts in the guest banner) and sign up with email, Google or Apple. Your guest drafts, saved signatures, AI chats and usage move into the account on this device, and they stop expiring. - [Change the language of the app](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/change-app-language.md): PDFBetter speaks English, Español, 日本語, Français and Deutsch. In the app, go to Settings → Profile & signatures → Language and pick an App language; it also sets the language of emails we send you. On the website, use the language menu in the header or footer. - [Notifications and the emails PDFBetter sends you](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/notifications-and-emails.md): The bell in the dashboard shows the last 30 days of activity on what you sent: opened, signed, declined, completed, expired and new form responses. We also email you when someone signs, declines or finishes, and about your account. Form response emails can be turned off per form; signing emails can't. - [A tour of the dashboard](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/dashboard-tour.md): The dashboard at /app/ is home base. The sidebar holds New, Create with AI and your lists; the top bar has search (⌘K), the AI menu, notifications and help. The home page shows what needs your attention, quick tools and your recent documents. - [Find and organize your documents: folders, tags, search and trash](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/find-organize-documents.md): Everything you upload, create, sign or send is in My documents. Sort it into folders and tags, filter by status or name, and search everything with ⌘K. Deleted documents stay in Trash for 30 days, where you can restore them. - [Editor basics: open, save, version history and download](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/editor-basics-save-download.md): Open a document from My documents (or Open in editor in its menu). The editor saves automatically; the status next to the name shows Saved. Restore earlier states from Version history, and get the finished file from Done → Download. - [Keyboard shortcuts](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/keyboard-shortcuts.md): Press ? anywhere in the dashboard or the editor to see the shortcuts for that screen. The essentials: ⌘ K to search, U to upload, T for text, S to sign, ⌘ Z to undo and Tab to move between form fields. - [Someone sent you a PDFBetter link: what it is and what to do](https://help.pdfbetter.com/getting-started/got-a-link-from-pdfbetter.md): PDFBetter is the tool the sender used. You don't need an account, an app or a payment to sign, fill or view what they sent. Look at the email or link to see which kind it is, then follow the matching article below. ## Editing & annotating Change text and images, comment, highlight, measure, redact and run OCR. - [Edit the existing text in a PDF](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/edit-existing-pdf-text.md): Switch the editor from Fill out to Edit PDF (or press E), click a line of the document's text and type. The new text is drawn over a cover patch in the closest standard font; the old characters stay in the file unless you redact them. - [Add text, images, shapes and whiteout to a PDF](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/add-text-images-shapes.md): In Edit & fill mode, pick a tool from the toolbar (Text, Image, Erase, shapes, marks, Table, Date, Draw) and click or drag on the page. Select anything you added to restyle, move, lock or copy it to other pages. - [Undo changes and restore an earlier version](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/undo-and-version-history.md): Press ⌘/Ctrl Z to undo and ⇧ ⌘/Ctrl Z (or Ctrl Y) to redo. Your work saves automatically; to go further back, open More (⋯) → Version history and click Restore on any version. Restoring never erases the current state. - [Create a new PDF from scratch](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/create-blank-pdf.md): Click New in the sidebar and choose Blank document. PDFBetter opens one empty page in the editor (US Letter or A4, depending on your language), where you can type, add images and shapes, build form fields and add more pages. - [Highlight, comment on and annotate a PDF](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/highlight-comment-annotate.md): Use Highlight, Underline or Strikeout and drag across text; use Sticky or Comment for notes and threads. Open More → Review annotations to reply, resolve and filter, and Done → Export comments for a PDF, CSV or JSON summary. - [Measure distances and areas on a drawing](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/measure-distance-area.md): Choose Measure in the toolbar, set the drawing's Scale (for example 1/4 in = 1 ft or 1:100) or Calibrate from a known length, then click two points for a Distance or click each corner for Perimeter and Area. - [Manage pages, page numbers and watermarks in the editor](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/manage-pages-in-editor.md): Click Pages in the toolbar to open thumbnails: drag to reorder, and use the buttons to rotate, duplicate, delete, crop, resize or insert pages. Page numbers and watermarks are in the toolbar too; headers, footers and Bates numbers are separate browser tools. - [Make a scanned PDF editable and searchable with OCR](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/make-scanned-pdf-editable-ocr.md): Open the OCR PDF tool, upload the scan, pick the Languages and pages and click Recognize text. The result looks identical but has a searchable text layer; click Open in the editor to change its text. OCR is counted per page recognized. - [Redact a PDF permanently](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/redact-pdf-permanently.md): Choose Redact (in the Cover group), drag over everything to remove, then click Apply redactions and confirm. Text, images and drawings under each mark are removed from the file, not just covered, and the affected pages become images. - [Download your edited PDF, fillable or flattened](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/download-edited-pdf.md): Click Done → Download, choose Keep fillable or Flatten, decide whether to Include comments and sticky notes, and click Download. Downloading needs a free account; Free includes 3 edited-document downloads a month, and Pro is unlimited. - [Read, search and move around a PDF in the editor](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/read-search-navigate-pdf.md): Open More (⋯) → Read mode for just the document. Press ⌘/Ctrl F (or Search in the toolbar) to find text, use the page bar at the bottom to jump and zoom, and Pages for thumbnails. - [Print a PDF from PDFBetter](https://help.pdfbetter.com/editing/print-pdf.md): Click Done → Print (or the printer icon in the top bar), then Print. PDFBetter prepares a flattened copy and opens your browser's print dialog, where you pick the printer, pages and scale. Printing counts as a download, so it needs a free account. ## Forms & fillable PDFs Fill any form, build fillable fields, publish fill links and collect responses. - [Fill out a PDF form](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/fill-out-pdf-form.md): Open the PDF and stay in Edit & fill with Fill out selected. Type into the form's own fields, press Tab to move between them, and click anywhere on a flat form to add text. Then choose Done → Download. - [Find a form: templates and official forms like the W-9](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/find-form-templates-official-forms.md): Open Templates in the sidebar and pick Library for fillable templates or Official forms for government forms such as the W-9. Click Use template or Fill out and a private copy opens in the editor. In the editor, Find form searches both. - [Fill out a form someone sent you as a link](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/fill-out-form-sent-to-you.md): Open the link, answer the questions in Form view or straight on the page in PDF view, and click Submit. You don't need an account or an app. Your answers go only to the person who shared the form. - [Make a PDF fillable by adding form fields](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/make-pdf-fillable.md): Open the PDF, switch the top bar to Create form, pick a field type from Add fields and click or drag it onto the page. Set its options on the right, check it with Preview, then download with Keep fillable or publish it as a form. - [Detect form fields automatically with AI](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/detect-form-fields-with-ai.md): In Create form mode, choose Detect fields, pick the pages and run it. PDFBetter proposes a field for each blank, box and signature line; you tick the ones to keep and choose Add. Each run costs 3 AI credits. - [Form field types, required fields and validation](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/form-field-types-and-validation.md): Pick a field type that matches the answer (Email, Date, Number, Phone…) and its format is checked as people type. Tick Required in Field options to stop the form being submitted or signed while the field is empty. - [Add calculated fields and conditional logic to a form](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/form-formulas-and-conditional-logic.md): Add a Formula field and type an expression such as qty * price or sum(items_*_amount) under Calculation. To hide a field until it's relevant, open its Visibility section, turn on Show only when… and add rules. - [Publish a form as a fill link and collect responses](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/publish-form-fill-link.md): Build the fields, then choose Done → Publish as form, set the title and options, and select Publish form. You get a link, a QR code and embed code. Respondents don't need an account, and every submission is stored as data and as its own filled PDF. - [View and export form responses](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/view-and-export-form-responses.md): Open Fill links in the sidebar and choose Responses next to the form. Each row expands to All answers and has Download filled PDF; the CSV and Excel buttons export every response with one column per field. - [Fill a PDF form from a spreadsheet (mail merge)](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/fill-pdf-from-spreadsheet.md): Open the Fill PDF from Excel tool, drop a fillable PDF and a CSV or XLSX file, match columns to fields, check the rows, set a file name and generate. Runs of up to 50 rows are filled in your browser, free. - [Save a form as a reusable template](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/reusable-form-templates.md): Choose Done → Save as template in the editor, or Save as template from a document's menu in My documents. Open it later from Templates with Use template: each use creates a new document and the template stays unchanged. ## eSignatures Sign yourself, request signatures, signing order, reminders and the audit trail. - [Sign a PDF yourself](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/sign-pdf-yourself.md): Open the PDF, choose Sign → Add signature, create your signature (type, draw or upload) and select Save and sign, then click where it goes. Download with Done → Download. This adds a visual signature; to collect other people's signatures with evidence, request signatures instead. - [Draw your signature on your phone with a QR code](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/sign-with-phone-qr-code.md): In the signature dialog, choose Add via QR code and scan the code with your phone's camera. Draw with your finger, tap Use this signature, and it appears on your computer; check it and click Save and sign. The link works once, for 10 minutes. - [Save, reuse and delete your signatures and initials](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/manage-saved-signatures.md): Tick Save for next time when you create a signature, or add one in Settings → Profile & signatures → Saved signatures. Reuse it from Sign → Saved signatures in the editor. Saved signatures need a free account. - [Request signatures from other people](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/request-signatures.md): Open the document and switch to Invite to sign. Add each recipient's name, email and role, choose In order or All at once, place each person's fields, then choose Send, check the title, message, reminders and expiry, and select Send. - [Verify signers with an email code or an access code](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/verify-signers-email-code-access-code.md): In Invite to sign, open a recipient and tick Verify with an email code (every plan) or Require an access code (Pro and Business). A forwarded signing link alone then won't open the document. - [Bulk send: one document to a whole list, each person signs their own copy](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/send-same-document-to-many-signers.md): Prepare the document for one signer, choose Bulk send when you send, then upload a CSV or Excel list (or paste rows) with a name and email per person. Everyone gets their own copy and signing link; you track them all in Sent. Up to 500 recipients per bulk send, on Business. - [What signers see, and how to sign or decline](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/what-signers-see.md): Signers open Review and sign in the email, agree to use electronic records, fill the fields in their color and select Finish (approvers select Approve). No account or app is needed. They can also choose Decline or I'd rather use paper, which closes the request. - [Track, remind, cancel or resend a signature request](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/track-signature-requests.md): Open Sent in the sidebar and select a request. Each recipient shows Emailed, Opened, Signed or Declined. Use Remind, New link / fix email or Cancel request, and download the Signed PDF and Certificate once it's Completed. - [Contacts: everyone you've exchanged documents with](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/signing-contacts.md): Contacts in the sidebar lists everyone you've sent a document to for signature and everyone who sent you one. It fills itself from your signature requests. Search it, copy an email address, or click Send to sign to start a new request. - [The signed PDF, Certificate of Completion and audit trail](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/signed-pdf-certificate-audit-trail.md): When everyone finishes, each person gets the signed PDF and a Certificate of Completion. Both are digitally sealed and, when the time-stamping service is reachable, independently time-stamped. The signed PDF carries the signing evidence inside it, so changing one byte makes PDF readers flag the file. - [Are PDFBetter e-signatures legally valid?](https://help.pdfbetter.com/signing/esignature-legality-and-evidence.md): Electronic signatures are generally accepted for most business documents in many countries, but some documents need more. Signature requests give every signer their own device key and a sealed, time-stamped PDF with the evidence built in. Whether that's enough depends on the law that applies to your document. ## Converting & organizing Word, Excel, images and PDF in both directions; merge, split, rotate and compress. - [Which tools run in your browser and which use our servers](https://help.pdfbetter.com/convert-organize/browser-vs-server-tools.md): Merge, split, rotate, organize, images ↔ PDF, protect, unlock, sanitize and compare run in your browser: nothing is uploaded and they download free without an account. Office conversions, compression beyond Light, OCR and PDF/A run on our servers and count toward a monthly allowance. - [Convert between PDF and Word, Excel or PowerPoint](https://help.pdfbetter.com/convert-organize/convert-pdf-word-excel-powerpoint.md): Open the matching tool (for example PDF to Word or Word to PDF), upload the file, set the options and click Convert. Office conversions run on our servers and each one counts toward your monthly Office & advanced conversions. - [Convert PDFs to images, text or CSV, and images to PDF](https://help.pdfbetter.com/convert-organize/convert-pdf-images-text.md): Use PDF to JPG or PNG for page images, PDF to text or CSV for text and tables, and JPG or PNG to PDF for photos. All of these run in your browser: nothing is uploaded and they download free without an account. - [Merge PDFs into one file](https://help.pdfbetter.com/convert-organize/merge-pdf-files.md): Open Merge PDF, add two or more PDFs, drag them into order and click Merge PDF. It runs in your browser and downloads free without an account. Use Assemble PDF to mix in photos, or Batch merge to make several merged files at once. - [Split a PDF or extract pages](https://help.pdfbetter.com/convert-organize/split-pdf-extract-pages.md): Open Split PDF, choose Custom ranges, Every N pages, Each page or By file size, and click Split PDF. To pull a few pages into one new file, use Extract pages instead. Both run in your browser. - [Rotate, reorder, delete or add pages](https://help.pdfbetter.com/convert-organize/rotate-reorder-delete-pages.md): Organize PDF does it all on one screen: drag thumbnails to reorder, rotate, duplicate, delete or insert pages, then click Save PDF. Rotate, Remove pages, Add pages and Resize each do one job. All run in your browser. - [Make a PDF smaller](https://help.pdfbetter.com/convert-organize/compress-pdf-file-size.md): Open Compress PDF and drop the file. Light runs in your browser straight away; click Try balanced or Try strong to compress on our servers. Compare the measured sizes and click Download on the one you want. - [Compare two versions of a PDF](https://help.pdfbetter.com/convert-organize/compare-two-pdf-versions.md): Open Compare PDF, choose the original and the revised version, and read the summary of pages changed and words added or removed. Switch between Text changes and Visual overlay for each page. It runs in your browser. ## AI with citations Chat, summaries, translation, extraction and workspaces that point to the page. - [Open the AI assistant and what each tab does](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/ai-assistant-overview.md): In the editor, click the yellow ✨ AI assistant button in the top bar (or More (⋯) → AI assistant). From the dashboard, use the ✨ AI assistant menu and pick a document. The panel has nine tabs, from Ask to Scan. - [How AI credits work](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/ai-credits.md): Every AI action costs a fixed number of credits, shown on its button before you run it. Your plan includes credits every month; an AI credit pack adds 500 credits for $5 that never expire and are used after the monthly ones. - [How accurate AI answers are, and how to check them](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/ai-privacy-accuracy.md): AI answers can be wrong or miss nuance, so every result links to the pages it came from and chat quotes are checked word for word against the page. Check numbers, dates and obligations against the cited page before you rely on them. - [Ask questions about a PDF and check the cited pages](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/chat-with-pdf-citations.md): Open the document, go to the Ask tab of the AI assistant, type a question and click Ask. Answers come only from that file and list Sources: click a p. 4 chip to jump to the quoted page. Each message costs 1 credit. - [Summarize a PDF, search it by meaning, or map it](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/summarize-pdf-ai.md): In the AI assistant, the Summary tab writes key points that link to their pages (2 credits), and Search finds passages by meaning (1 credit). For a visual overview, PDF to mind map builds a map whose nodes quote their pages. - [Create a document with AI](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/create-document-with-ai.md): Click Create with AI in the sidebar, pick what you're making, describe it and click Create draft. You get an editable, fillable PDF in the editor for 5 credits. - [Translate, edit and proofread a PDF with AI](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/translate-edit-proofread-ai.md): In the AI assistant, Translate makes a new translated copy (1 credit per page), Edit turns an instruction into edits you accept one by one (2 credits), and Proofread lists issues to fix (1 credit per page). Nothing changes until you apply it. - [Extract data from many PDFs into a table](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/extract-pdf-data-table.md): Go to Extractions, choose a preset or define fields, pick documents and click Extract. Review each value against the quote it came from, approve or correct it, then export XLSX, CSV or JSON. Each page read costs 1 credit. - [Ask across several documents and make briefs, slides or quizzes](https://help.pdfbetter.com/ai/ai-workspaces-briefs-quizzes.md): Create a workspace in Workspaces, add documents, and use Ask across documents (2 credits per answer) or Make something from these documents to generate a brief, slide outline, quiz or audio brief. Every citation names the document, version and page. ## Sharing & delivery Share links, link activity, email delivery and fax. - [Share a PDF with a link](https://help.pdfbetter.com/sharing/create-share-link.md): In the editor, click Done → Share, pick what people can do (Can view, Can comment, Can fill or Can edit), set expiry, password and download options, then click Create link and Copy link. - [What people see when they open your link](https://help.pdfbetter.com/sharing/shared-link-recipient-view.md): The link opens the document in the browser with "Shared by" your name. Depending on the permission, people can comment, fill fields and click Send to …, open it in the editor, or Download it. Passwords and named-people limits are checked first. - [Publish a PDF at a fixed web address (hosted PDF)](https://help.pdfbetter.com/sharing/hosted-pdf-link.md): In Share, open the Hosted PDF tab, set expiry, password and download options, and click Publish PDF link. The link always shows the version you published, even after you edit the document. It uses one download from your plan. - [Turn off, replace or email a share link](https://help.pdfbetter.com/sharing/manage-share-links.md): Open Done → Share. Every link to the document is listed with its permission, expiry and views. Click Turn off to stop a link immediately, or Email this link to send it. To change a link's settings, create a new one and turn the old one off. - [See who opened, downloaded or filled your shared links](https://help.pdfbetter.com/sharing/share-link-activity.md): Open Link activity in the sidebar. You'll see activity per day, Links by recent activity, form responses and Recent events (viewed, downloaded, commented, filled in, wrong password, opened after expiry). Your plan keeps activity for 14 days on Free. - [Find documents other people shared with you](https://help.pdfbetter.com/sharing/documents-shared-with-me.md): Open Shared with me in the sidebar. It lists documents someone invited your email address to edit, with who shared each one and when your access ends. Click one to open it in the editor. - [Email a PDF to someone from PDFBetter](https://help.pdfbetter.com/sharing/email-pdf-from-pdfbetter.md): Click Done → Share, open the Email PDF tab, enter up to 10 addresses in To, add a subject and message if you like, and click Send PDF. Each recipient counts as one of your plan's emails sent with documents. - [Send a PDF as a fax](https://help.pdfbetter.com/sharing/fax-pdf-online.md): Click Done → Fax, enter a US or Canadian Fax number, add a cover page if you want, and click Send fax. Business includes 50 pages a month; anyone can buy a Fax pages pack (50 pages for $6). ## Workflows & integrations Saved workflows, Zapier, Make, Google Drive, the API and AI agents over MCP. - [Automate repeated steps with saved workflows](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/saved-workflows.md): Open Workflows, pick a recipe or Start empty, add steps, choose how it starts, then click Create workflow. Each step uses its usual allowance (OCR pages, AI credits), and your plan sets how many workflows you can save. - [Run a workflow and approve its review steps](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/run-workflow-approve-review.md): On the workflow under Recipes, click Run on a document and pick a document. Progress shows under Runs; a review step shows Needs approval until you click Approve or Reject. - [Connect PDFBetter to Zapier](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/connect-zapier.md): Start from Settings → Integrations → Set up in Zapier, add a PDFBetter step in a Zap and sign in, then click Allow and connect. Each action a Zap runs counts as one agent & automation run on your plan. - [Connect PDFBetter to Make](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/connect-make.md): Start from Settings → Integrations → Set up in Make, add a PDFBetter module to a scenario, create a connection and click Allow and connect. Each module that runs counts as one agent & automation run. - [PDFBetter actions and triggers in Zapier and Make](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/zapier-make-actions-triggers.md): Zapier and Make get the same set: 15 instant triggers (signing, forms, exports, bulk fills, workflow runs) and actions for documents, pages, conversion, AI, extraction, workflows, workspaces, forms and signatures. - [Import from and save to Google Drive](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/google-drive-import-save.md): Click Connect Google Drive in Settings → Integrations. Then use New → Import from Google Drive to bring files in, and Save to Google Drive (editor Done menu or a document's menu) to send PDFs back. - [Use the PDFBetter API and create an API key](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/rest-api-keys.md): On Business, open Settings → API keys, name the key, tick its Permissions and click Create key. Copy it right away; send it as Authorization: Bearer pb_live_… to https://api.pdfbetter.com/v1/. - [Get webhooks when documents are signed or forms submitted](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/webhook-endpoints.md): In Settings → API keys → Webhooks, enter an https Endpoint URL, pick Events and click Add endpoint. Copy the signing secret (shown once) and use it to verify the PDFBetter-Signature header. - [Connect Claude, Cursor and other AI agents (MCP)](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/connect-ai-agents-mcp.md): Open Settings → Agents (MCP), name a key, choose its permissions and click Create agent key. Copy the ready-made setup for your client. Each tool call counts as one agent & automation run. - [Use the help center with ChatGPT, Claude or your own agent](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/help-center-for-ai-agents.md): Point your assistant at https://help.pdfbetter.com/llms.txt, or add .md to any article's address for clean Markdown. Apps can call the keyless search API at /api/help/search/?q=…, and agents connected over MCP get the search_help and get_help_article tools. ## Teams Invite people, roles, shared templates and documents, and your brand on requests. - [Create a team](https://help.pdfbetter.com/teams/create-a-team.md): On the Business plan, open Settings → Team & branding, enter a Team name and click Create team. You become the owner, and your Business seats cover everyone you invite. - [Add your logo and colors to signing requests](https://help.pdfbetter.com/teams/team-branding.md): Owners and admins open Settings → Team & branding and, under Branding, set a Brand name, Color and logo, then click Save branding. It's shown on signing invitations and shared links your team sends. - [Invite people to your team](https://help.pdfbetter.com/teams/invite-team-members.md): In Settings → Team & branding, type an address under Invite by email, pick a Role and click Send invitation. The invitee opens the emailed link while logged in with that address and clicks Accept invitation. - [Team roles: owner, admin and member](https://help.pdfbetter.com/teams/team-roles-permissions.md): Teams have three roles. The Owner manages billing, roles and everyone; Admins invite and remove members and edit branding; Members use the team's documents, templates and plan. - [Team seats and billing](https://help.pdfbetter.com/teams/team-seats-billing.md): Business is billed per seat. Every member, including the owner, and every pending invitation uses one. The owner changes the number of seats in Plan & usage → Manage billing. - [Remove a member or leave a team](https://help.pdfbetter.com/teams/remove-team-member.md): In Settings → Team & branding, click the remove icon on the person's row and confirm Remove. To leave, click it on your own row and confirm Leave team. People keep their own documents; documents shared with the team stay with the team. - [Share documents and templates with your team](https://help.pdfbetter.com/teams/share-documents-with-team.md): Open a document's row menu and choose Share with team. Teammates find it under the sidebar's Team → Documents (or Templates). Choose Stop sharing with team to make it personal again. - [Switch between personal and team documents](https://help.pdfbetter.com/teams/switch-personal-team-documents.md): Click your name at the top of the sidebar and, under Show documents from, pick Everything, Personal or your team's name. The sidebar's Team section also links straight to team documents and templates. ## Account & billing Plans, trials, Day Pass, credits, invoices, refunds and cancelling. - [Compare the Free, Pro and Business plans](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/compare-plans.md): Free costs nothing and has no end date. Pro is $15 a month for one person, with unlimited downloads and signature requests. Business is $24 per seat a month and adds teams, branding, bulk send, the API and the largest spreadsheet-fill allowance. - [How the free trial of Pro and Business works](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/paid-plan-free-trial.md): The first time you subscribe to Pro or Business on pdfbetter.com, you get 7 days free. You add a card at checkout, nothing is charged during the trial, and if you cancel before it ends you pay nothing. - [Buy a Day Pass for a one-off job](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/day-pass.md): A Day Pass costs $6 and gives you Pro for 24 hours. It doesn't renew. Upgrade to Pro within 7 days of buying it and the Day Pass price comes off your first Pro payment. - [What happens when you reach a monthly limit](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/monthly-limits-and-credit-packs.md): When you use up a monthly allowance, PDFBetter stops before the task and offers to wait for the reset, buy a Day Pass or upgrade. For AI credits and fax pages you can also buy a pack that never expires. - [How much storage you have, and what counts toward it](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/storage-limits.md): Free includes 1 GB, Pro 50 GB and Business 200 GB per seat. See what you've used in Settings → Plan & usage → Storage. When it's full, new files can't be added until you delete documents, empty the trash or upgrade. - [Upgrade, downgrade or switch to yearly billing](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/change-plan.md): Open Settings → Plan & usage and click Change plan. Pick Pro or Business, monthly or yearly, and PDFBetter shows exactly what changes and what you pay before you confirm. - [Cancel your Pro or Business plan](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/cancel-plan.md): Open Settings → Plan & usage, click Cancel plan and confirm. Nothing more is charged, you keep the plan until the end of the period you paid for (or the trial), and then your account moves to Free. - [Find invoices and receipts, or ask for a refund](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/invoices-and-refunds.md): Invoices for payments on pdfbetter.com are listed under Settings → Plan & usage → Invoices, with a PDF for each. For a full refund of your first payment, email support within 14 days. App Store purchases are refunded by Apple. - [Plans bought in the App Store or on AppSumo](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/app-store-and-appsumo-plans.md): An App Store subscription unlocks your plan on every device, but Apple bills it, so you change, cancel or refund it through Apple. An AppSumo lifetime deal is paid once on AppSumo and redeemed from your AppSumo account. - [Change your email, password or sign-in method](https://help.pdfbetter.com/account-billing/change-email-password-sign-in.md): Open Settings → Profile & signatures. Enter a New email address and confirm it from your inbox, or change your password under Password. You can sign in with Google, Apple, an emailed link or a password. ## Privacy & security Where files live, how long we keep them, deleting your data and protecting PDFs. - [Where your files are stored and who can open them](https://help.pdfbetter.com/privacy-security/where-your-files-are-stored.md): Browser tools such as merge, split and rotate never upload your file. Documents you edit, fill or sign are stored in Cloudflare R2, encrypted at rest, and only you, people you share with and your team (for team documents) can open them. - [How long PDFBetter keeps your files](https://help.pdfbetter.com/privacy-security/how-long-files-are-kept.md): Guest drafts are deleted 1 hour after they're created. Files uploaded only to run a tool are deleted after 24 hours. Documents in your account stay until you delete them, then they're erased 30 days later. - [Delete documents, and restore them from the trash](https://help.pdfbetter.com/privacy-security/delete-documents-and-trash.md): Select documents and choose Move to trash. They stay in Trash for 30 days, where you can Restore them, then they're erased with their files. Use Delete forever or Empty trash to erase them now. - [Export your data or delete your account](https://help.pdfbetter.com/privacy-security/export-data-and-delete-account.md): Open Settings → Data & privacy. Click Prepare my export to download your account data and original files. To close your account, click Delete my account, type your email and confirm. This can't be undone. - [Password-protect or unlock a PDF](https://help.pdfbetter.com/privacy-security/password-protect-pdf.md): Use Protect PDF: choose Require a password to open, set the Open password, pick what's allowed and click Protect PDF. Unlock PDF removes a password you know. Both run in your browser, and nobody at PDFBetter can recover a forgotten password. - [Why black boxes and whiteout aren't redaction](https://help.pdfbetter.com/privacy-security/redaction-vs-blackout.md): Erase (whiteout) and Blackout only cover content visually, and the text underneath stays in the file where anyone can copy it out. Redact removes it: after you apply redactions, each affected page is rebuilt without the marked content. - [Remove hidden data from a PDF before you share it](https://help.pdfbetter.com/privacy-security/sanitize-hidden-data.md): Use Sanitize PDF. It shows what your PDF carries besides its pages, such as metadata, attachments, scripts and hidden layers, removes what you tick, and gives you a report. It runs in your browser. - [What happens to your documents when you use AI](https://help.pdfbetter.com/privacy-security/ai-and-your-data.md): AI features send your document's text to OpenAI's API with storage turned off; scan restoration sends page images to fal.ai. Your documents aren't used to train models. In Settings → Data & privacy you can choose Private AI or delete stored AI data. - [Security certifications, and how to report a vulnerability](https://help.pdfbetter.com/privacy-security/security-certifications-and-reporting.md): PDFBetter hasn't completed a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit, isn't HIPAA compliant and doesn't sign BAAs. To report a vulnerability, email security@pdfbetter.com; reports are acknowledged within two business days. ## Desktop & mobile apps The Mac, Windows and iPhone apps, and how they sync with the web. - [Install PDFBetter on your Mac](https://help.pdfbetter.com/apps/install-mac-app.md): Download the Mac app from pdfbetter.com/download/mac, open the .dmg and drag PDFBetter into Applications. It's signed and notarized by Apple, needs macOS 12 or later, and signs you in through your browser. - [Install PDFBetter on Windows](https://help.pdfbetter.com/apps/install-windows-app.md): Download the installer from pdfbetter.com/download/windows and run it. If Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, choose More info, then Run anyway. It runs on Windows 10 and 11, on x64 and ARM. - [Open files, use shortcuts and update the desktop app](https://help.pdfbetter.com/apps/desktop-app-files-shortcuts-updates.md): Open files with File → Open…, by dropping them on the app icon, or with “Open with” in Finder or File Explorer. The app updates itself in the background; to check now, use Check for Updates…. - [PDFBetter on iPhone and iPad](https://help.pdfbetter.com/apps/iphone-ipad-app.md): The PDFBetter iPhone and iPad app is coming to the App Store. Until it's out, pdfbetter.com works in Safari on any iPhone or iPad, including filling, signing and sending documents. The app uses the same account and documents as the web. - [Can I use PDFBetter offline?](https://help.pdfbetter.com/apps/what-works-offline.md): Mostly no. Your documents live in your account, so pdfbetter.com and the Mac and Windows apps need an internet connection. When you're offline, the desktop app shows a reconnect screen. The iPhone app keeps edits on the device until it can sync. - [Use one PDFBetter account on several devices](https://help.pdfbetter.com/apps/use-pdfbetter-on-several-devices.md): Sign in with the same account everywhere: pdfbetter.com, the Mac and Windows apps and the iPhone app. Your documents, saved signatures and plan are the same on every device. There's no device limit. ## Troubleshooting Files that won't open, uploads that stall, fonts, emails that don't arrive. - [A PDF won't open: password-protected or damaged files](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/pdf-wont-open-password-damaged.md): If the PDF is password-protected, unlock it with Unlock PDF (you need the password) and upload the unlocked copy. If it's damaged or too complex, re-save it or print it to a new PDF from the app that made it, then upload that copy. - [Upload fails or stalls, and file size and page limits](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/upload-fails-file-size-limits.md): Most failed uploads are a dropped connection: click Retry in the Uploads tray. If the message says the file is too large or has too many pages, you've hit your plan's limit: 50 MB and 500 pages per document on Free. - [Fonts look different, or characters show as “?” after editing](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/fonts-look-different-after-editing.md): PDFBetter can't reuse the fonts embedded in a PDF, so edited and added text uses the closest of three standard families (sans, serif, mono). Characters no available font can draw come out as “?”. Pick the closest family and size, or cover and retype the whole line. - [Can't select, search or edit text in a scanned PDF](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/scanned-pdf-text-not-editable.md): A scan has no real text, only a picture of it, so Edit text and search find nothing. Run OCR PDF to add a searchable text layer, or Edit scanned PDF to recognize the text and then correct it in the editor. - [Signing and notification emails aren't arriving](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/emails-not-arriving.md): Check spam, promotions and quarantine first; PDFBetter sends from no-reply@pdfbetter.com. If a signer didn't get an invitation, open the request under Sent, check Activity, and use New link / fix email to correct the address and send a new link. - [“Create a free account” or “Limit reached” when you download](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/download-limit-reached.md): Guests need a free account to download edited documents; your work moves into it and the download continues. Free includes 3 edited-document downloads a month. When they run out, Limit reached offers Pro, Business or a Day Pass, or wait for the reset. - [A signing or form link says expired, canceled or not your turn](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/signing-or-form-link-wont-open.md): The message on the page says why. Not your turn yet means others sign first and you'll get an email. Expired, canceled or declined means the request is closed and the sender has to send a new one. We couldn't open this link usually means a newer link replaced it. - [Supported browsers and fixing saving or loading problems](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/browser-support-saving-problems.md): Use a current version of Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox with JavaScript on. If the editor shows Offline — will retry, keep the tab open; it saves when you reconnect. Changed elsewhere means another tab edited the document: choose Reload latest or Keep my version. - [Contact support and include the details we need](https://help.pdfbetter.com/troubleshooting/contact-support-details.md): Use the contact form (also under Help → Contact support in the app) or email support@pdfbetter.com. Include your account email, what you were doing, the exact error message, your browser and the time it happened. A person reads every message and replies within two business days. ## Optional - [Everything in one file](https://help.pdfbetter.com/llms-full.txt): all 123 articles as Markdown - [PDFBetter product facts](https://pdfbetter.com/llms.txt) - [Developer API](https://pdfbetter.com/developers/)