Add Page Numbers to a PDF in Under a Minute

You send a forty-page report and an hour later someone calls: "That table — what page is it on?" You have no idea. Nobody does. The PDF has no page numbers, because it was stitched together from three separate files.

Why going back to Word doesn't work

Each source document numbered itself from one. After merging you get 1–12, then 1–8 again, then 1–20. Reopening the originals, renumbering and re-exporting costs you half an hour — and for scanned attachments it's impossible, because there is no editable source.

Number the finished PDF instead

Flip the order: merge first, number last. Drop the finished PDF into FileTools, pick a position (bottom center is the safe default), set which page the counter starts on — you usually skip the cover — and download it. About a minute, nothing to install.

Three details people get wrong

Format: on long documents use "5 / 40" so the reader knows how much is left. Margin: keep numbers at least half an inch from the edge or the printer will clip them. Start page: if there are two title pages, begin counting at three, otherwise the physical page won't match your table of contents.

Next time you assemble a proposal or a thesis from several files, number it in one pass at the end. Whoever reads it will notice — in a good way.