iPhone Preview brings everyday PDF tasks into one built-in app, from rearranging pages to preparing a smaller attachment. Introduced with iOS 26, it remains available in iOS 27, whose user guide provides the instructions used here.

Apple’s Preview app can open PDFs directly, reorganize their pages, rotate or crop individual sheets, delete unwanted pages, insert new ones, complete forms, add signatures, protect documents with passwords and export smaller copies for sharing.

It can also scan paper documents directly into a PDF and combine multiple pages into one file.

That makes Preview surprisingly capable for common workflows such as signing a contract, cleaning up a scanned document, reducing an attachment before emailing it or rearranging pages in a report.

Start with the task your document requires. Rearranging pages, adding a signature and preparing an attachment are different from rewriting an existing paragraph or meeting a publisher’s production requirements. Preview’s documented tools cover many routine changes, while more specialized work may require a separate editor.

iPhone Preview Lets You Reorder, Delete and Crop PDF Pages

Page management is particularly useful for scanned documents. A report may contain a sideways sheet, an attachment in the wrong position or an empty page that needs removing before the file is shared.

Open a document in Preview and tap the page count to reveal its thumbnail view.

From there, a page can be moved simply by touching and holding its thumbnail and dragging it above or below another page.

That makes fixing a scanned contract or report straightforward when pages were captured in the wrong order.

To reorganize a document:

Preview > open PDF > tap page count > touch and hold a page thumbnail > drag it into position

The same thumbnail menu can delete a page entirely.

Touch and hold the unwanted thumbnail, then choose Delete Page.

Preview can also insert material into an existing document. The thumbnail menu offers options to add a blank page, import a PDF or image from Files, or scan additional paper pages with the iPhone camera.

That means a form missing one attachment can be repaired without recreating the complete PDF.

Rotation is equally direct.

Open the relevant page, tap the More button and choose Rotate Left or Rotate Right.

Cropping works on a page-by-page basis:

Preview > open PDF > select page > Crop > adjust the blue handles > Crop

This is particularly useful for scanned pages with oversized borders, desk surfaces or other material around the document.

Apple also provides Undo through the More menu, making these edits less intimidating when working on an original file. For documents that cannot easily be replaced, creating a duplicate first remains the safer approach.

Fill Forms, Add Signatures and Lock the Finished PDF

Preview also consolidates several document tasks that iPhone users may already recognize from Markup.

Fillable PDF forms can be completed directly inside the app. Text fields, checkboxes and other supported form elements can be selected and edited without converting the file into another format.

Signatures use Apple’s familiar Markup system.

Open the document’s signature controls and choose Add Signature. When using Markup, tap the Add (+) button first, then select Add Signature. Choose a saved signature or draw a new one with your finger; rotating the iPhone gives you more room.

A saved signature can then be positioned and resized on the document.

For recurring paperwork, that makes Preview useful for forms that arrive through Mail or Files and need to be returned quickly.

Once a document has been completed, Preview can also password-protect it.

To lock a PDF:

Preview > open PDF > Actions menu beside filename > Lock

Enter the same password in the Password and Verify fields, then confirm the change.

Apple automatically enables the password requirement when the file is locked.

This protection prevents someone without the password from opening the PDF normally and helps protect completed work from unauthorized access.

There is an important practical step before doing this: duplicate the document if you want to preserve an unprotected copy.

Preview > Actions menu > Duplicate

A password-protected PDF is only useful if the password itself can be recovered later. Losing it can make the document inaccessible, so the credential should be stored somewhere secure.

Preview Can Compress a PDF Before You Send It

Large PDFs are another problem Preview addresses without requiring a separate compression website.

Open the document, tap the Actions menu beside its filename and choose Export.

When PDF is selected as the output format, iOS 27 offers several options that can reduce file size.

Optimize Images for Screen lowers image resolution for documents intended primarily for display rather than high-quality printing.

Save Images as JPEG can reduce the size of embedded images further by using JPEG compression.

Two other export options serve different purposes. Create Linearized PDF optimizes a document for faster web loading, while Embed Text applies optical character recognition, or OCR, to make image-based content searchable.

Choose those options for loading behavior or searchability, rather than assuming they will produce the smallest attachment. For file-size reduction, the image optimization settings are the relevant controls.

The practical workflow for a smaller email attachment is:

Preview > open PDF > Actions menu > Export > PDF > Optimize Images for Screen > Save

Adding Save Images as JPEG can shrink image-heavy files further when maximum image fidelity is unnecessary.

These image-reduction options can sacrifice detail. Lowering resolution or using JPEG compression may affect small text, fine lines and photographs, so compare the exported copy with the original before sending it.

A document containing mostly text may shrink only modestly. A scan filled with high-resolution photographs can show a much larger reduction.

Preview also exports files into formats including HEIC, JPEG, PNG and TIFF when a PDF needs to become an image instead.

When exporting a PDF to an image format, resolution can be selected manually, giving users additional control over the balance between detail and file size.

Where Preview Still Falls Short of Adobe Acrobat

Reopen the exported file before sending it. Check the page order, orientation, completed fields and signature placement. Zoom in on small text and diagrams, especially if you reduced image resolution. The useful result is a document that remains readable and complete, not simply the smallest file you can create.

Keep the original under a different filename so you can produce another version if needed. A copy prepared for email may not be the best version for printing or archiving. Names such as “Application — Original” and “Application — Email Copy” help distinguish the files when they appear together in Recents.

If the task involves changing existing document text or satisfying a specific submission requirement, confirm that your chosen tool supports it before proceeding. For routine page organization, form completion and sharing, a checked Preview export may be all you need.

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