Mac

Delete pages from a PDF on a Mac

Quick answer: open the PDF in Preview, choose View > Thumbnails, select the page or pages and press the Delete key (or choose Edit > Delete), then save. Preview changes the file itself, so duplicate it first if you need the original. To leave the original untouched, open this page in Safari or Chrome, add the PDF, click the pages to remove and click Delete Selected Pages: you get a new copy ending -edited.pdf. Nothing is uploaded.

Steps last checked 3 November 2026 by the PDFWhisk team

At a glance

Use this page to edit files quickly with a guided workflow.
Accepted input: .pdf.
Output: downloadable file generated in-browser for supported workflows.

Local processing No server file storage Mobile-friendly

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Process Runs locally
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or tap to browse · accepts .pdf

Runs in your browser. No file uploads for supported tools.

Best on desktop for 100MB+ files · mobile recommended under ~100MB.

Runs locally No file uploads No server storage

How local processing works

Your PDF is processed in your browser using local JavaScript libraries.
PDFWhisk does not upload your file to a processing server for supported tools.
Only normal page assets load from the site (HTML/CSS/JS), not your document contents.

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How this tool helps

Remove unwanted pages from any PDF document with visual precision. See thumbnail previews of every page, then click to mark pages for deletion. Remove cover pages, blank pages, duplicate pages, or any content you don't need. Preview the result before downloading your trimmed PDF. Perfect for cleaning up scanned documents, removing unnecessary pages from reports, or trimming contracts to only the relevant sections. The original formatting of remaining pages is fully preserved. All processing happens in your browser - your document never leaves your device. Use it when you need to remove pages with visual selection, compress the cleaned PDF, fix page orientation before sharing.

Best for

Removing cover pages Trimming long PDFs Phone cleanup Pre-compression tidy-up

How it works

1

Open this page in Safari or Chrome

No app or account. The PDF is handled by the browser on your Mac.
2

Add the PDF

Drag it from Finder onto the upload box. A preview of each page appears.
3

Click the pages to remove

Each page you click is marked for deletion. Click it again to keep it. The counter shows how many pages will go.
4

Click Delete Selected Pages

The remaining pages are copied into a new PDF without being redrawn, so text stays selectable.
5

Download and check

Save yourfile-edited.pdf and scroll through it. Your original file is unchanged.

More files today? Free covers 2 tasks a day and files up to 50MB. For unlimited tasks and bigger files, Pro passes start at £1.29 for 24 hours. See Pro options → One-off payment, no subscription, and your files still stay on your device.

Removing pages from a PDF on a Mac

Common reasons: a blank back page from a scanner, a cover sheet a portal doesn't want, or terms and conditions that make a file too big to upload.

Preview edits the file in place

When you delete pages in Preview and save, the original file is changed. That is fine for a copy you just downloaded, but make a copy of anything important first. Annotations on the deleted pages go with them.

Moving and rearranging instead

In the same thumbnail sidebar you can drag pages to a new position, and drag thumbnails from one PDF's sidebar into another's to move pages between files. If you need pages in a different order rather than gone, Reorder Pages here does the same in a browser.

Deleting pages to get under a size limit

Removing pages a form doesn't ask for is the cleanest way to cut file size, because the pages you keep are not touched. Do it before compressing; compression redraws every page as an image, so it is better used last.

Before you upload/share

Open the PDF and check every page before you send or upload it.
Keep the original files until the recipient or portal has accepted the document.

Frequently asked questions

How do I delete a page from a PDF in Preview?

Choose View > Thumbnails or View > Contact Sheet, select the page or pages, then press the Delete key or choose Edit > Delete. Save the file when you're done.

Does deleting a page in Preview remove my notes on it?

Yes. Apple's guide says that when you delete a page from a PDF, all the annotations on that page are removed as well.

How do I keep the original PDF?

Make a copy of the file before editing it in Preview, or use this page, which always saves the result as a separate -edited.pdf copy.

Can I delete pages from a password-protected PDF?

Only if you can open it. Remove the password first with Unlock PDF (you need the password), then delete the pages.

Is the file uploaded?

No. The pages are removed by your browser on your Mac. Free use covers files up to 50MB, 2 tasks a day.

Sources

Limits and steps on this page were checked against these official pages on 3 November 2026.

Apple Support: Add, delete, or move PDF pages in Preview on Mac

What to do next

Chain tools together for a complete workflow.

Split PDF

Extract pages or split a PDF into multiple files

Reorder Pages

Drag and drop to rearrange PDF pages

Compress PDF

Shrink a PDF to a target size, such as 2MB or 500KB