Merge PDF files on an iPhone or Android phone, no app needed

App stores are full of PDF editors, and many of them want an account, a subscription or access to your photos before they will join two files. For something you do a few times a year, that is a lot to hand over. The browser already on your phone, whether Safari, Chrome or another one, can do the job.

The tools on PDFont run the same way on a phone as on a computer. Files are combined using your own device's processor and memory and are not sent to any server, which matters when the pages are a passport scan, a bank statement or a tenancy agreement.

Your PDFs might be in the Files app, in iCloud Drive or attached to an email. If they are only in an email, save them to Files first so the picker can see them.

1. Open Merge PDF in Safari or another browser.
2. Tap the button to add files. The iOS picker opens; browse to the folder and select every PDF you need.
3. Use the up and down buttons beside each file to set the order. Pages will appear in that sequence.
4. Tap Merge, then download the result when it is ready.
5. Safari usually saves downloads to the Downloads folder in the Files app; you can also reach the file from the downloads icon in the address bar or the browser menu.

The steps are nearly identical; only the file picker looks different. Android's picker can usually reach the Downloads folder, internal storage and any cloud storage app that is synced to the phone.

1. Open Merge PDF in Chrome or your usual browser.
2. Tap to add files and select the PDFs. Long-press the first one if the picker does not offer multiple selection straight away.
3. Arrange them with the up and down buttons, then tap Merge.
4. The merged file normally lands in Downloads. Open it from the download notification or your file manager.

It is common to photograph the pages of a contract or a receipt rather than scan them. Convert the photos first with JPG to PDF, which accepts JPG, PNG and WebP images; iPhone HEIC photos work in Safari and in other browsers that can open them.

Select all the photos at once and each one becomes a page of the same PDF. You can choose a page size, including A4 and Letter, and a margin. The new file can then be merged with your other PDFs.

When you take the photos, lay the sheet flat, avoid your own shadow and fill the frame with the paper. The pages will be easier to read and the file will stay smaller.

Sometimes you need two pages from one document and one from another, not the whole lot. Organize PDF accepts several files and shows every page in one grid. Delete what you do not need, drag the rest into order with your finger, rotate anything sideways and tap Save.

With long documents, turning the phone to landscape makes the thumbnails easier to work with.

Most hiccups on a phone come down to passwords, memory or file size.