Editing & Signing
How to Crop a PDF on iPhone (Free, In-Browser)
Crop the pages of a PDF on your iPhone for free. Trim unwanted margins or cut a scan down to size in Safari, with no app install required.
Hamza M.
PDF Workflow Editor
A PDF page has an extra margin, a blank strip, or a border you want removed before printing or sending. Cropping trims the page down to the area you keep. On an iPhone you have two free routes: the built-in Files editor on recent iOS versions, and a browser-based crop tool that works on any iPhone.
Here is how to crop a PDF on an iPhone for free.
Crop a PDF in the Files app (iOS 26 and later)
- 1Open the Files app on your iPhone and find the PDF.
- 2Tap the PDF to open it in the built-in viewer.
- 3Tap the edit button in the toolbar to enter the page editor.
- 4Drag the handles around the part of the page you want to keep.
- 5Tap Crop, then save the PDF.
This is the true built-in option, but it crops one page at a time and is only available on iOS versions that include the page-editing tools. For trimming the margins across a whole document, a browser tool is much faster.
Crop a PDF in Safari
- 1Open the Crop PDF tool in the Safari browser on your iPhone.
- 2Tap to choose the PDF from Files, iCloud Drive, or Downloads.
- 3Choose the crop amount, either uniform margins or a custom amount for each edge.
- 4Apply the crop and download the trimmed PDF.
The tool runs in your browser tab. Your PDF is processed on your iPhone and never uploaded to a server.
When cropping makes sense
- Removing a white margin so printed pages waste less space
- Trimming blank strips left by a flatbed scan
- Cutting a page of a book down to the text block for an excerpt
- Removing a header, footer, or border from copies of a form
Crop all pages or only some
| Crop type | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Uniform margin | Trims the same amount on each edge | Whole documents with consistent margins |
| Custom edges | Different trim on left, right, top, and bottom | Pages with an uneven border |
| Selected pages only | Crops only the pages you pick | A document with a few oversized pages |
Check the trimmed PDF
- Open the result and scroll through each page
- Confirm no important content was cut at the edges
- Check the crop is even if you applied a uniform margin
- Keep the original PDF until the cropped copy is verified
Cropping a PDF on an iPhone is free either way. The Files app handles a single page on recent iOS, and a Safari-based crop tool trims whole documents without an app. Either way, everything stays on your phone.
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Crop PDF
Crop and resize PDF pages. It runs in this browser tab — your file is not uploaded anywhere.
Open Crop PDFFrequently asked questions
Can I crop a PDF on an iPhone for free?+
Yes. On iOS 26 and later, the Files app can crop a page with its built-in editor, and a browser-based Crop PDF tool in Safari trims pages without any app.
How do I crop a PDF without an app?+
Open the PDF in the Files app, tap the edit button in the toolbar, frame the area you want with the selection handles, and tap Crop. Or open a crop tool in Safari.
What is the difference between cropping and resizing?+
Cropping removes part of the page. Resizing scales the whole page down to a smaller size without removing any content.
Can I crop all pages of a PDF at once?+
Yes, with a Safari-based crop tool that applies a uniform trim to every page, or a margin amount you set yourself.
Are my files uploaded when I crop them?+
No. The cropping runs in your browser tab. Your PDF is processed on your iPhone and never leaves your device.