How to fix the page order of a scanned PDF

Scanning a long document rarely goes perfectly the first time. The printer's feeder grabs two sheets at once, you scan all the front sides first and then the backs, or you simply put the papers in the wrong order. Scanning everything again is a waste of time: fixing the PDF is much faster.

Case 1: the pages are mixed up

Open the PDF in Reorder PDF. Every page appears as a numbered thumbnail with its original position. Drag each one to the right place. If the document is long, work in blocks: first place the cover and section headings, then sort the content within each section.

Case 2: you scanned one side and then the other

If your scanner only reads one side, it's common to scan all the odd pages and then, flipping the stack, all the even ones. The result is a PDF with 1, 3, 5, 7… and then 8, 6, 4, 2 (in reverse order). To fix it, move the last page of the file behind the first, the second-to-last behind the third, and so on until they're interleaved.

Case 3: there are blank or duplicate sheets

Blank backs and sheets scanned twice are very common. Hover over (or tap) the thumbnail and click the trash icon to remove it from the final document. The original file isn't modified: a new PDF is created without those pages.

Case 4: the scan came as separate photos

Some phone scanning apps save each page as a JPG image. In that case use Image to PDF: there you can also put the photos in order and rotate sideways ones before creating the PDF.

Check before sending

• Open the downloaded PDF and go through every page once.
• Check that the printed page numbers (if any) are consecutive.
• Make sure no signature, stamp or appendix is missing.
• Give the file a descriptive name, for example: lease_agreement_signed_2026.pdf.