How to rearrange, rotate and delete PDF pages on your Mac

You can reorder, rotate and delete PDF pages on a Mac with Preview, which is already installed: show the thumbnails, drag pages around, and use Rotate and Delete. The catch is that Preview changes the file you opened. Koi's Organize does the same on a copy, with every page laid out as paper you drag, turn, copy or take out, and the original left as it was.

We make Koi, so read this with that in mind. Everything about Koi here is what version 1.13 does. Preview's steps come from Apple's own guides, checked October 21, 2026.

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. Choose View, then Thumbnails, or View, then Contact Sheet to see the pages large.
3. Drag a page to where it should go. Select several first to move them together.
4. Close the file or choose File, then Save.

1. In the thumbnails, select the page or pages to turn.
2. Click the Rotate Left button in the toolbar. Click again to keep turning.
3. To turn the other way, hold Option and click Rotate Right.

Apple's rotate guide has the same steps for one page or many.

1. In the thumbnails or contact sheet, select the pages to remove.
2. Press Delete, or choose Edit, then Delete.
3. To add one, select the page before it and choose Edit, then Insert, then Page from File or Blank Page.

Deleting a page also deletes the notes and highlights on it. Apple's guide covers adding, deleting and moving pages, and moving them between two PDFs. Since Preview saves into the file you opened, choose File, then Duplicate first if you want to keep the original as it was.

To move pages from one PDF into another, open both, show the thumbnails in each, and drag pages from one sidebar into the other. Contact Sheet shows the pages larger, which helps when you're sorting a long scan by eye rather than by page number.

1. Start dragging the PDF in Finder or on your desktop.
2. While you're still holding it, press and hold Shift. The PDF wheel opens round your pointer.
3. Drop the PDF on Organize. Organize PDF opens with its pages as numbered paper.
4. Drag pages into a new order.
5. Click the button on a page's corner to turn it clockwise.
6. Hover a page for two more buttons under it: copy it, or take it out.
7. Click Save organized PDF. “Report organized.pdf” lands beside the original and shows in Finder.

• Reset puts every page back as it was, if you get lost. Take out every page and Koi says so, rather than saving an empty file.
• Make all pages the same width scales each page to the narrowest one and draws it anew. Its words stay text, but its links and form fields go, so leave it off for a form.
• The title and author are kept in the new file.
• The original is never touched. When its folder can't be written to, the copy goes to Downloads.
• A PDF a password keeps shut doesn't open.

It all runs on your Mac with Apple's PDFKit, and nothing is uploaded. More on the Shift wheel.

The most common job: you scanned a document, the feeder took the pages out of order, and every other page is upside down. In Koi:

1. Drop the scan on Organize. Every page shows as numbered paper, big enough to read.
2. Click the corner button twice on each upside-down page to turn it the right way.
3. Drag the pages into order, and take out any blank backs the scanner picked up.
4. Click Save organized PDF and check the copy before you delete the scan.

A pile of receipts or forms scanned on different paper sizes is the other one. Make all pages the same width scales them to the narrowest page, so the PDF scrolls as one even column. Leave it off if the PDF has form fields or links you need, since those go. To add pages from another PDF, use Merge first, then Organize the result.

• Preview saves into the file: a page you deleted by mistake is gone from it once you close it. Use File, then Revert To, to go back to an earlier version, or duplicate first.
• Notes go with their page: highlights and comments on a deleted page are deleted too.
• Locked PDFs: one that needs a password to open has to be opened and saved without it first.

Sending only a few pages? Don't delete the rest: pull them out with Split and keep the whole PDF as it was. Moving one page in a PDF you made yourself? Preview is right there. Fixing a scan with half its pages sideways, or tidying a PDF someone sent you that you want to keep as it came? Koi's Organize works on a copy, and the same wheel splits a PDF, merges several, and edits its title and author.

Preview is free. Koi has no free plan: Pro is $20 a month, or $192 a year, after a 3-day free trial that needs a card. Lifetime is paid once, from $59. The Shift wheel uses no AI, so it never counts against Koi's usage. See the plans.