Add bookmarks to a PDF
Give any PDF a clickable table of contents: type the titles and page numbers, or let the tool suggest them from the headings in your document.
Your file never leaves your computer — nothing is uploaded. The bookmarks are written in this browser tab. Files up to 200 MB.
Drop a PDF here
or
Turn it into a flipbook and these bookmarks become a Contents menu readers can tap to jump to any section. Create your free flipbook.
Bookmarks, also called the outline of a PDF, are the list of sections you see in the side panel of a PDF reader. Click one and the reader jumps to that page. They are the difference between a 60-page document people scroll through hopefully and one they can navigate. Most export tools can create them from headings, but only if you remembered to tick the right box, and once a PDF is finished there are few free ways to add them afterwards. This tool is one of them, and it works without sending your document anywhere.
How to use it
- Choose your PDF. It is read into this browser tab; nothing is uploaded. If the file already has bookmarks, they appear in the list so you can edit them.
- Fill in the list. One row per bookmark: a title and the page it should open. Use the arrows to change the order, and the cross to remove a row.
- Or let the tool suggest them. Suggest from headings reads the text on every page, works out the size of your normal body text, and proposes the largest text on each page as a heading. Check the result: a big quote or a price can look like a heading too.
- Save. You get a copy named yourfile-bookmarks.pdf with a real outline inside. The original is untouched.
What gets written into the PDF
A proper outline, as the PDF specification describes it: an outline dictionary in the document catalogue, and one entry per bookmark with its title and a destination that opens the page without changing the zoom level. Titles are stored as Unicode, so accents, Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese survive intact. The document is also marked to open with the bookmarks panel visible in readers that respect that setting, such as Acrobat and Preview.
The list is flat: every bookmark is on the same level. For most documents that is exactly right. If you need chapters with nested sections, export the outline from your word processor instead, as explained in our guide to adding a clickable table of contents.
Bookmarks in a Toombler flipbook
This is where bookmarks pay off. When you turn a PDF into a flipbook with Toombler, the viewer reads the outline and shows a Contents button. Readers tap it, pick a section, and the book flips straight there. Without bookmarks there is no menu, and in a long catalogue or magazine readers are left paging through it one spread at a time.
So the workflow is short: add the bookmarks here, put the new file in Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive in place of the old one, and create the flipbook. If the flipbook already exists and you replaced the file at the same share link, the Contents menu appears by itself the next time someone opens it.
Scans and documents without text
The heading suggestions need a text layer. A scanned document is a series of pictures, so there is nothing to read and the tool says so. You can still add bookmarks by hand: they work the same way on a scan as on any other PDF.
Password-protected PDFs
An encrypted PDF is refused with a message, and the tool does not try to get around the protection. Open the file in a PDF reader with its password, save an unprotected copy, and add the bookmarks to that.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The file is opened in your browser and the bookmarks are written on your own device. Nothing is sent to Toombler or anyone else.
Will this replace bookmarks that are already in my PDF?
Yes. Existing bookmarks are loaded into the list first so you can edit them, and saving writes the list as the new outline.
Can I make nested bookmarks, like chapters with sub-sections?
Not with this tool; it writes one flat list. For nested bookmarks, export the PDF with heading styles from Word, Google Docs or InDesign.
Why did the suggestions miss a heading?
Suggestions are based on text size. A heading set in the same size as the body text, or a heading that is part of an image, cannot be told apart. Add it by hand.
Do the bookmarks work in a Toombler flipbook?
Yes. The flipbook shows a Contents button built from the bookmarks, and each entry flips straight to its page.
What is the maximum file size?
200 MB, because the whole document is held in your browser's memory while the bookmarks are written.