How it works

Every other PDF site asks you to trust a promise about what happens to your file after you upload it. This one is built so there is nothing to trust.

There is no server to send files to

pdftools-online.com is a static site. It has no database, no file storage, and no API endpoints — not endpoints that delete your file promptly, but no endpoints at all. When you choose a PDF, your browser reads it into memory and processes it with WebAssembly libraries that were downloaded to your device along with the page.

The heavy work runs in a Web Worker so the interface stays responsive. The output is handed back to you as a download. When you close the tab, the memory is released. At no point does a copy exist anywhere but your own machine.

How to verify it yourself

Don't take our word for it — this takes about thirty seconds:

1. Open your browser's developer tools and switch to the Network tab.
2. Run any tool on this site — merge a few PDFs, say.
3. Watch the requests. You will see the page and its scripts load. You will not see your file go anywhere, because no request carries it.

For a stronger test: load the site, then disconnect from the internet entirely. The tools keep working. A site that uploaded your files could not do that.

We test this claim automatically

The privacy claim is covered by an automated test, not just a policy. Part of our test suite drives a real browser, runs a merge, and fails the build if any network request carries PDF data. A change that started uploading files would break the build before it could ship.

What this does and doesn't protect

It does mean your document is never transmitted, never stored on someone else's disk, never scanned, and never retained after you close the tab.

It doesn't make your device secure. If the machine you are using is compromised, or someone is watching your screen, that is outside what any website can address. And the downloaded output lands in your normal downloads folder like any other file.

Where the limits are honest

Running in a browser genuinely constrains what we can offer, and we would rather say so than overstate:

• Large files depend on your device. The 100MB per-file limit is browser memory, not a paywall. A phone will manage less than a desktop.
• Unlock PDF removes restrictions, not encryption. A file that will not open without a password cannot be decrypted here — see the tool page for why.
• We offer no AI features. Summarising or chatting with a PDF requires sending it to a language model on a server. That is exactly the thing this site exists not to do, so we don't offer it.

Questions about any of this: security@pdftools-online.com.