How to Create a Hyperlink in a PDF (Free, No Acrobat)

A link in a PDF works differently from a link in a Word document or on a web page. In a PDF, the words on the page are just drawn shapes. A link is a separate, invisible rectangle laid on top of the page. Clicking inside that rectangle does something: it jumps to another page, opens a website, starts an email or dials a phone number.

So to create a hyperlink in a PDF, you mark an area of the page and tell the PDF what that area should do. You don't select the text. This guide shows the free way to do it in your browser, then covers Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word and Google Docs, and ends with the mistakes that quietly break PDF links.

The two kinds of PDF link

• Internal links jump to another page of the same document. Clickable tables of contents, "see page 12" cross-references and "Back to contents" buttons are all internal links. An internal link can land on the whole page, on the page at full width, or on an exact spot such as a heading halfway down.
• External links leave the document. They open a web address, start a new email to an address you choose, or ring a phone number when tapped on a phone.

Both kinds are standard parts of the PDF format. They work in Adobe Acrobat and Reader, in the PDF viewers built into Chrome, Edge and Firefox, in macOS Preview, and in the PDF viewers on iPhone and Android. Some readers ask for confirmation before they open a website. That's a safety feature of the reader, not a fault in your file.

How to create a hyperlink in a PDF for free

You can do this with oMyPDF's Add Links to PDF tool. You don't need an account or any software. For normal-sized files, the PDF is processed in your browser and never uploaded.

1. Open your PDF. Go to Add Links to PDF and drop the file on the page. Every page opens in an editor with thumbnails on the left.
2. Drag a box over the text or picture that should be clickable. The box snaps to the words underneath, so it covers them neatly. Hold Alt while dragging to draw freely instead, for example around a logo or a button in a diagram.
3. Choose where the link goes. The settings panel opens as soon as you let go. Pick Page, Web, Email or Phone and fill in the destination.
4. Repeat for every link you need. Undo and redo work as you'd expect, and the panel on the right lists every link in the document.
5. Click Create links and download the finished PDF.

The editor also reads the words under your box. In the screenshot above, the box covers "see page 4". The editor knows this handbook's printed page 4 is the PDF's sixth page, because the cover and contents page come first, so it sets the link to page 6. Draw over a web address and the link is set up as a web link with the address already filled in:

You can change any of it. For a web link, type the address without worrying about https://; it is added for you. For an email link you can also pre-fill the subject line. For a phone number, include the country code so the link works from any country.

Visible or invisible?

New links are invisible by default. The PDF looks exactly as it did, and the text you linked is what readers see. That's right for most documents, especially when the linked text is already blue or underlined. If the page gives no visual hint, choose Box, Dashed or Underline in the link settings and pick a colour. The outline is drawn into the file, so every reader shows it the same way.

Linking to an exact spot

A "whole page" link opens the target page from the top. To land readers exactly on a heading, choose Exact spot under "Land on". Then click the place on the target page where they should arrive. This makes a big difference in long documents where a section starts halfway down a page.

Make a table of contents clickable

A table of contents with no links is one of the most common PDF frustrations. It usually comes from a document that was printed to PDF or exported without links. Linking each line by hand works, but the editor can do the whole contents page in one go.

Open Smart links and choose My PDF already has a contents page. The editor finds the contents page, reads every entry with its page number and shows you the result before anything changes:

The important detail is in the grey line under each entry. "Printed page 1 → page 3" means the number printed in the contents is not the PDF's page number. Here, a cover and the contents page itself come before page 1. Most documents with front matter work this way. A naive link to "page 1" would send readers to the cover. The editor uses the page numbers printed in the footers, and the PDF's own page labels when it has them, to find the right page. It then checks that each entry's title actually appears there. You can correct any page before you confirm, and tick the box to add the entries as bookmarks too.

One click later, every line of the contents page is a link:

If your PDF has no contents page, choose My PDF has no contents page instead. The editor detects the headings from their size and weight and lets you tick the ones to include. It then inserts a new contents page, with the links already in place, at the start or after the cover. You can undo the insertion like any other change.

Let the editor find the links for you

Two more options under Smart links handle the tedious part of linking a long report:

• Web addresses & emails finds every printed URL and email address in the document. That includes URLs that wrap onto a second line. Each one becomes a working link.
• Page references finds phrases like "see page 12", "p. 4" or "pages 8–10" and links each to the right page, using the same printed-number matching as the contents page. It understands English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Hindi references.

Both show a review list first, so nothing is added without your say. A scanned PDF has no real text to read. Run it through OCR first, then come back to add links.

Other ways to add hyperlinks to a PDF

Method	Cost	Internal links	Notes
oMyPDF Add Links to PDF	Free	Yes, including contents pages	Works on any existing PDF, in the browser
Adobe Acrobat Pro or Standard	Paid subscription	Yes	The free Acrobat Reader can't add links
Microsoft Word, then Save as PDF	Needs Word	Yes, to headings and bookmarks	Only works if you have the original document
Google Docs, then Download as PDF	Free	Check the result	Web links carry over; test internal ones
macOS Preview	Free	No	Keeps existing links but can't create new ones

In Adobe Acrobat:

1. Open the file and choose Edit a PDF, then Link → Add or edit a link.
2. Drag a rectangle over the area.
3. In the Create Link dialog, choose Go to a page view for an internal link or Open a web page for an external one.

In Microsoft Word:

1. Add your links before you make the PDF. Select the text and press Ctrl+K: paste a web address, or choose Place in This Document to link to a heading.
2. Export with File → Save As → PDF, or Export → Create PDF/XPS. Both keep the links.
3. Avoid File → Print → Microsoft Print to PDF. Printing turns the document into flat pages, and every link is lost.

In Google Docs: insert links with Ctrl+K, then use File → Download → PDF Document. Web links come through. If you linked to headings inside the document, open the downloaded PDF and test those links before you send it.

The source-document methods only help if you still have the original file and want to recreate the PDF. To add links to a PDF someone sent you, or to a scan, a form or an export from another program, you need a tool that works on the PDF itself.

Why PDF links stop working

If links worked once and then vanished, one of these is usually the cause:

• The PDF was printed to PDF. "Print to PDF" in any program produces a picture-like copy of each page with no links. Use Save As or Export instead.
• Pages were merged, split or reordered afterwards. Tools that rebuild a document page by page often drop links, or leave internal links pointing at pages that no longer exist. oMyPDF's Merge, Split, Organize and Insert pages tools carry internal links and bookmarks across, but many other tools don't, so add links as the last step, after merging, splitting, reordering and compressing are done.
• The file was flattened or converted to images. Flattening merges everything into the page and removes links along with form fields and comments.
• The document is signed. Any change to a digitally signed PDF invalidates the signature, links included. Add links before signing.
• The viewer blocks them. Some company-managed PDF readers and email previews disable web links. Open the file in a full PDF reader to check.

Test your links before you send the file

Before downloading, switch on Test links in the toolbar. In test mode, clicking a page link jumps to its target the way a reader would see it, and a "Back" chip returns you to where you were. Then download the file and open it in the reader your audience uses. On a phone, tap a couple of links to make sure they're easy to hit with a finger. A link box smaller than a word or two is fiddly on a touchscreen.

Frequently asked questions

Can I hyperlink text in a PDF without Adobe Acrobat? Yes. Any tool that adds standard PDF link annotations can do it. Add Links to PDF does it free in the browser, and the links it creates work in Acrobat and Reader too.

Can I change or remove a link that's already in the PDF? Yes. Existing links appear in the Links panel when you open the file. Select one to change its destination or appearance, or delete it. Remove all clears every link while leaving form fields and comments alone.

Can I put a link on an image or a logo? Yes. Hold Alt while dragging to draw a free box around any picture, button or part of a diagram, then choose where it goes.

Do PDF links work on iPhone and Android? Yes. The PDF viewers on both systems open page links, web links and email links, and tapping a phone link offers to call the number.

How do I add a "Back to contents" link to every page? Create the link once. Then use Repeat in its settings to copy it to all pages, odd or even pages, or a range. Each copy sits in the same corner of every page, even on pages turned to landscape.

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Ready to try it? Open Add Links to PDF, drop in your file and draw your first link. It's free and needs no sign-up. If your document doesn't have a navigation pane yet, add bookmarks too.