4 Easy and Proven Ways to Add Hyperlink to PDF with Ease

Olivia
By Olivia, Oct 28,2025
4 Easy and Proven Ways to Add Hyperlink to PDF with Ease

Introduction :

In the digital work and study area, most of us prefer to add links to a PDF to make the PDF have improved navigation, increased accessibility, and a better user experience. How to add hyperlink to PDF for free? JOPDF can give you a hand. Additionally, you can try Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat Pro, and Preview. In this comprehensive post, I will show you a detailed tutorial with the exact steps. Now, let’s get started!

Add Hyperlink to PDF Free via JOPDF

Supported OS: Windows and Mac

If you are seeking a free way to edit and add hyperlinks to a PDF, congratulations! JOPDF can satisfy your needs. It is a completely free PDF editor that enables you to add hyperlinks, allowing you to go to a file, a web page, or a specific page in the PDF conveniently. With this reliable PDF editor, you can do the following tasks:

As you can see, the user interface of JOPDF is quite intuitive and user-friendly. You can follow the steps below to add link to PDF using JOPDF.

Step 1. Hit the button below to get the free PDF editor and install it on your PC.

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For Win 7 or later (32 & 64-bit)

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Step 2. Enable JOPDF. Click the Open PDF option to import the PDF file you intend to add hyperlinks to. Or you can click the Edit PDF option to import the target PDF for editing.

Step 3. Go to the Edit tab, open the Link list, and click on the Add Link option. Frame a word or area you need to add the link, and then the Link window will pop up.

Go to Edit and click the Add Link option under the Link list in JOPDF

Step 4. In this Link window, you can set the link appearance, including the border, line style/thickness, and color. Here are three options for the link.

Option 1. Go to a page view. Tick this Go to a page view option and set the page where you want to go.

Option 2. Go to a web page. Check the Go to a web page option, copy and paste the target web page link.

Option 3. Go to a file. Select the Go to a file option, click the Folder icon to locate the target file, and click Open.

Select the link type you want to add and set the link appearance in JOPDF

Step 5. Click the Apply button to finish the process of adding a link to a PDF.

In addition, JOPDF supports deleting hyperlinks from PDF. Go to Edit > Link > Delete All Links to remove all hyperlinks from the PDF.

How to Add a Link to a PDF in Microsoft Word

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

Microsoft Word is a professional program for word processing. Surprisingly, Microsoft Word is equipped with features to create, convert, and edit PDF files. It enables you to save a Word document as a PDF file and edit the text, images, and formatting of a PDF file effectively. Furthermore, it supports adding hyperlinks to PDFs with ease. Here are the exact steps to add a link to a PDF in Microsoft Word.

Step 1. Run Microsoft Word, click the Open option, select the target PDF file, and click Open to import it.

Step 2. After the PDF file is opened in Microsoft Word, it turns into an editable file. You can select the words or sentence you need to add a link, right-click it, and choose the Link option.

Right-click on the target text and choose the Link option in Microsoft Word

Step 3. Here are 4 options for you to add a link in Microsoft Word.

Option 1. Existing File or Web Page. You can select the Current Folder option to link to a file, or directly paste the copied web page link into the Address box to link to a web page.

Paste the copied link into the Address box under the Existing Fil or Web Page in Microsoft Word

Option 2. Place in This Document. This option enables you to link to a specific place in this current document.

Go to the Place in This Document section to link to a specific place in the PDF file in Microsoft Word

Option 3. Create New Document. This option directly links to a new document. You can give a name to the new document and change its save path. Meanwhile, you can choose to edit the new document now or later.

Go to the Create New Document option in Microsoft Word

Option 4. E-mail Address. Select this option to link to an Email address.

Later, click the OK button. Finally, click File, select the Save As option, choose a folder to save it, set PDF as the target output format, and click the Save button.

Choose PDF as the target output format and click the Save button in Microsoft Word

How to Add Hyperlinks to a PDF in Adobe Acrobat

Supported OS: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

Adobe Acrobat is a professional way to add hyperlinks to a PDF to links to web pages, external files, or specific pages within this PDF. What’s more, it supports editing and managing links in a PDF file. However, please note that this feature is not available in Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can only enjoy this feature in the paid versions, Adobe Acrobat Standard and Adobe Acrobat Pro. Here, let’s learn how to add a link to a PDF in Adobe Acrobat.

Step 1. Launch your Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro and open the target PDF file.

Step 2. Click the Tools tab and choose the Edit PDF option.

Select the Edit PDF option under the Tools tab in Adobe Acrobat Pro

Step 3. Open the Link list, click the Add/Edit Web or Document Link option, and drag the cursor to draw the link area. Alternatively, you can select the text you want to add a link to first, right-click it, and choose the Create Link option.

Step 4. Customize the link’s appearance. Then, you can select from the Go to a page view, Open a web page, Open a file, or Custom link option. Next, click OK to confirm the operation.

Step 5. Finally, click File and choose the Save option to save the PDF file with hyperlinks.

Add Links to PDF Using Preview

Supported OS: Mac

How to add a link to a PDF on Mac for free? Preview could be a good choice, which is pre-installed on the Mac PC without further downloading and installation.

Step 1. Go to Finder and launch the Preview app. Then open the PDF document you want to add links to in Preview.

Step 2. Click the Tools option from the top bar, move to Annotate, and select the Text option to add a text box.

Go to Tools to select Annotate and choose the Text option in Preview

Step 3. Copy and paste the link you want to link to. Optionally, you can adjust the font, color, and size of the link text

Step 4. Repeat the above operations to add more links. Once done, go to File and click Save to save this PDF document.

Here’s one thing to note: the added links in the Preview program are not automatically clickable. How can you access the link in Preview? Right-click on the link text and select the Open Link option to open it with the default browser. Alternatively, you can select the Open With option and choose your preferred browser.

Bottom Line

It is a wonderful way to make your PDF file informative by adding hyperlinks. In the content above, I have introduced four methods to add hyperlink to PDF. Both JOPDF and Preview are good choices for adding a link to a PDF for free. Furthermore, you can try Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Word.

FAQs

It is not difficult to add a link to a PDF for free. JOPDF is worth a try. Go to Edit > Link > Add Link to choose the target link area, select the preferred link type to add the link, and click OK.

Smallpdf can give you a hand in creating a link to a PDF file. Go to the Smallpdf website, sign in to your account, go to the Document section, and click Upload to import your PDF file. Then click the three-dot icon, select Share, and click Copy Link. You can get the link to the PDF file.

Adobe Acrobat Pro enables you to add clickable hyperlinks to PDFs. Navigate to Tools > Edit PDF > Link > Add/Edit Web or Document Link to choose the link type to add to the PDF.

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    Olivia

    Olivia

    “Olivia is an editor at JOPDF, where she writes practical guides and insightful articles on managing PDFs—covering topics like editing, annotating, converting, and organizing files efficiently. Passionate about clear communication and digital productivity, Olivia enjoys spending her free time cooking, watching movies, and hiking to unwind and find inspiration for her writing.”

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