CECO PDF

Edit a PDF on an Android phone

Choose a PDF

To change a word already in a PDF on an Android phone or tablet, open it in CECO PDF in your browser, tap the word and type the right one. Google Drive marks up a PDF with a pen and fills in forms. CECO PDF changes the word itself, in the document’s own font, and refuses what it cannot match.

Open a PDF to correct — it runs in the phone’s browser, with no app to install.

The PDF stays with your documents until you delete it, for 90 days at most. The privacy notice says what is kept, and why.

How do I edit a PDF on an Android phone?

  1. Open CECO PDF in the phone’s browser, tap “Choose a PDF” and pick the PDF. One with a password asks for it.
  2. Tap the word. The hint under the page puts it this way: “Tap the word you want to change, or use Find.” For small type, Find is easier than a fingertip.
  3. Type the right word and tap “Make this change”. On a phone’s narrow screen the card sits at the bottom, above the keyboard, and the page moves so that the word stays in view.
  4. Read the check when it comes back from the server: how the word reached the page, and outside 0 px. If anything else changed, there is nothing to download, and Undo is offered.
  5. Download it. The browser saves it with the phone’s other downloads.

To delete words rather than change them, empty the field, and the button becomes “Delete this”. On a page of real text, take the space after a word too, by adding it to “It says”, or two spaces are left; Remove text from PDF says more.

What can Google Drive and Files by Google do with a PDF?

Two of Google’s own apps work on PDFs on Android, and Google’s help says what each does. In Google Drive (Annotate PDFs with a stylus or freehand on Android), “A toolbar opens with multiple annotating tools.” “You can use a stylus or your finger to select an annotating tool.” “Use freehand strokes to annotate or mark over the PDF.” Drive fills in forms too (Fill out PDF forms in Google Drive): “You can fill out PDF forms in Google Drive on your Android device.” It warns: “If you don’t see the option, you may not be able to fill out this PDF.”

Files by Google opens PDFs as well. Its page (Open, manage & edit PDFs in Files by Google) says: “You can directly open and edit PDF files in the Files by Google app.” The editing it goes on to describe is freehand: “You can annotate PDFs in Files by Google.” “When you save a copy, it’s uploaded to your Google Drive.”

None of the three pages describes changing a word that is already in the PDF. Their tools draw, highlight and fill blanks, and what they add lies over the page.

What you want to doGoogle Drive or Files by GoogleCECO PDF in your browser
Change a word that is already in the PDFNo: marks go on topYes: the word itself, in the document’s font
Change a word in a scanned pageNot describedYes: from the scan’s own letters, or drawn to match
Mark up or highlight with a finger or a stylusYes, in freehand strokesYes, with Edit PDF
Add a typed text boxNot describedYes, with Add text to PDF
Fill in a formYes, in Drive, where the PDF allows itYes, with Fill PDF
Check that nothing else changedNot describedYes, before you can download

For a quick mark, a highlight or a form’s own fields, Drive is the quicker way, and the file stays in Google’s apps. The correction tool is for the other job: a word that is already there, and wrong.

How do I add text or a signature on an Android phone?

New words go in a box rather than into the page’s text. In Edit PDF, choose “Add text”, then press “Place at page centre” to put it in the middle of the page without dragging. A signature or your initials go on with Sign PDF, and a form’s blanks are filled with Fill PDF.

Does it work on an Android tablet?

Yes, the same way. On a screen wider than a phone’s, the card is not a sheet rising from the bottom of the screen, as it is on a phone, and with a keyboard attached, Ctrl+Enter applies a correction and Ctrl+Z takes it back.

Is a large PDF a problem on a phone?

No more than on a computer: the server sets the limits, not the phone. On the free plan, a file can be up to 15 MB and 50 pages, with 10 corrections a day; paid plans raise them, as the pricing page says.

Correct only documents that are yours, or that you are entitled to alter: the terms say who may, and every correction carries your confirmation that you are authorised to make it. Identity documents are refused when they are uploaded.

Questions people ask

How do I edit a PDF on Android for free?

Correcting is free to try: 10 corrections a day on the free plan, and you see the result before you pay. Signed in, your first corrected download each day costs nothing; after it, one takes a credit or a plan. One document costs €0.99, once, with no subscription needed. The pricing page lists the plans.

Do I need an app from the Play Store?

No. CECO PDF is a web page, so it runs in the phone’s browser, with nothing to install and nothing on the phone to keep up to date.

Does it work on a Samsung or Xiaomi phone?

Yes, in an up-to-date browser, whoever made the phone: it asks nothing of the phone but the browser.

Can I edit a scanned PDF on Android?

Yes. A scan is a picture of the page, and the word is changed in that picture: from the scan’s own letters where it can be, or drawn to match. Edit a scanned PDF says what is refused.

Will the new word be in the same font?

In a PDF with real text, yes: it is typed in the document’s own font, and refused if that font lacks a letter you typed. In a scan, it is drawn to match the letters beside it, and refused when their typeface cannot be told. Edit PDF text says how.

Can I fill in a form or sign a PDF on Android?

Drive fills a form’s own fields, where the PDF allows it. In the browser, Fill PDF fills a form’s fields and the blanks of a flat or scanned form, and Sign PDF places your own signature or initials.

Related pages

Sources

Each page below was read on 10 November 2026, on its maker's own website. What another program can do is said only as its maker says it.

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