Add headers and footers to a PDF
Add a running header and footer to every page — a document title on top, a page count and date at the bottom, or any combination across six positions. Applied in your browser and written into the file itself.
Headers & Footers
pdf-lib drawText · {page}/{date} tokens
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How to Headers & Footers
- Add your PDF. Drag the file onto the drop zone.
- Fill in the text. Type left, centre and right text for the header and footer. Use {page}, {pages} and {date} anywhere for values that update per page.
- Set the size. Adjust the font size to suit how much text you're placing.
- Apply and download. Save the file with headers and footers added to every page.
Six positions, and the tokens that fill them
Both the header and the footer have independent left, centre and right slots, so you can put a document title on the left, leave the centre empty, and put a date on the right — or any combination you need.
Three tokens expand automatically per page: {page} becomes the current page number, {pages} becomes the total page count, and {date} becomes today's date. "Page {page} of {pages}" becomes "Page 3 of 24" on page three, updated correctly for every page in the document.
How this differs from Add Page Numbers
If all you need is a page number, the dedicated Add Page Numbers tool is a faster, more focused way to do exactly that with slightly more control over its exact position.
This tool is for when you need more than a number — a document title, a confidentiality notice, a date stamp, or several of those at once across both the header and footer. The two tools can be used together: add page numbers first, then headers and footers, or the other way round.
Frequently asked questions
Can I add just a header, or just a footer?
Yes. Leave the fields you don't want empty — an empty header or footer row simply isn't drawn.
What do {page}, {pages} and {date} mean?
They're placeholders that get replaced per page: {page} with the current page number, {pages} with the total number of pages, and {date} with today's date. Type them anywhere in any of the six text fields.
Are my files uploaded?
No. Headers and footers are drawn directly onto the pages in your browser, and the file never leaves your device.
Will this overlap with content already on the page?
Headers and footers are placed with a standard margin from the top and bottom edges, which is clear of typical body text. If your document already has something in that margin, check the result before relying on it.
Can I use a different header on the first page?
Not currently — the same header and footer apply to every page. For a document that needs a distinct cover page, consider applying this tool to the pages after the cover using the Split PDF and Merge PDF tools in sequence.
Does adding headers and footers reduce quality?
No. Text is drawn directly onto the existing page content without re-encoding anything else on the page.