PDF Bookmarks

How do I add bookmarks to a PDF?

Press Choose a PDF. To build bookmarks from the headings, press Find headings; to make them yourself, press Add bookmark, type the title and the page. Use the arrows to nest a bookmark under the one above or move it up and down. Press Save bookmarks and download the PDF with its new outline.

1. Press Choose a PDF.
2. Press Find headings, or + Add bookmark for each section.
3. Fix titles and pages; use → to nest and ↑ ↓ to reorder.
4. Press Save bookmarks, then Download.

Can I create bookmarks from headings automatically?

Yes. Find headings reads the text of every page, finds lines set clearly larger than the body text, and turns them into bookmarks: the largest become top-level bookmarks and smaller headings are nested under them. Running headers and page numbers are skipped. Check the list before saving, because a large pull quote can look like a heading too.

How do I get bookmarks when saving a PDF from Word?

Use Word's own heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2) for section titles, then turn on bookmarks from headings in Word's PDF export options. Word then writes one bookmark per heading, as Microsoft documents for its export. If the PDF was already saved without them, add them here with Find headings instead of exporting again.

Microsoft's reference for the export setting is listed in the sources below.

Why don't I see the bookmarks in my PDF reader?

The bookmark panel is often closed. In most PDF readers it opens from the sidebar button or a View menu; in Chrome's viewer, open the menu at the top left. Files saved here also ask the reader to open the panel at start, a setting in the PDF itself. Some phone PDF viewers do not show bookmarks at all.

Want a printed contents page too? Number the pages first with Add Page Numbers.