How to Add Hyperlinks to a PDF Document

You've got a PDF. Maybe it's a report, a proposal, a resume, or a digital brochure. And somewhere in that document, there's a URL or an email address just sitting there as plain text. Someone reading it has to copy it, open a browser, paste it in. It's 2026. Nobody should have to do that.

Adding clickable hyperlinks to a PDF is one of those things that feels like it should be obvious, but if you've ever tried it, you know it's weirdly unintuitive. Most people create their documents in Word or Google Docs, export to PDF, and assume the links carry over. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. And if you need to add a link to an existing PDF that someone else made? That's a whole different situation.

Let's walk through how to actually get this done, no matter what you're working with.

Why Links in PDFs Matter More Than You Think

A PDF without working hyperlinks is like a printed flyer. It's static. If you're sending a proposal to a client and you reference your website, your portfolio, or a case study — those need to be clickable. Nobody is going to manually type out a URL from a PDF. They'll just skip it.

Same goes for internal documents. Employee handbooks, onboarding guides, training manuals — all of these benefit from links that jump between sections, open reference documents, or connect to external resources.

And if you're building a digital product — an ebook, a worksheet, a guide — links are basically mandatory. They're what make a PDF feel like a real digital document instead of a printed page that happens to be on a screen.

Method 1: Add Links Before You Export to PDF

The easiest way to get hyperlinks into a PDF is to put them in your source document before you export. This works in basically every word processor.

In Google Docs: Highlight the text you want to link, hit Ctrl+K (or Cmd+K on Mac), paste your URL, and click Apply. When you go to File → Download → PDF, those links will be clickable in the resulting file.

In Microsoft Word: Same deal. Select text, Ctrl+K, enter the URL. When you save as PDF or export to PDF, the links should transfer. One thing to watch out for: if you use "Print to PDF" instead of "Save As PDF" or "Export," your links might not survive. The print function treats the document like a physical page, so interactive elements get stripped out.

In LibreOffice Writer: Select text, go to Insert → Hyperlink, enter the URL. Export with File → Export as PDF. LibreOffice is actually pretty reliable about preserving links in the export.

If you're building your document from scratch, this is the way to go. It takes two seconds per link, and they'll just work when you export.

Method 2: Add Hyperlinks to an Existing PDF Online

This is the more common scenario. You have a PDF that already exists — maybe someone emailed it to you, maybe it was generated by some system — and you need to add links to it after the fact.

A lot of people assume you need Adobe Acrobat for this. You don't. There are free online tools that handle it just fine.

With OnlyDocs, you can open any PDF in the browser and add clickable hyperlinks directly. Upload your document, select the text or area you want to make clickable, and add the URL. It works for web links, email addresses (mailto: links), and even links to specific pages within the same document. No account required, no watermarks, and the original formatting stays intact.

Here's the general process with any online PDF editor:

1. Upload your PDF
2. Select the text or draw a link area on the page
3. Enter the destination URL
4. Save or download the updated PDF

The whole thing takes about a minute per link. If you have a 50-page document that needs 30 links, though, you might want something a bit more powerful.

Method 3: Using Adobe Acrobat (If You Have It)

If you're already paying for Adobe Acrobat Pro, it does this well. Open your PDF, go to Tools → Edit PDF, and you'll see an "Add Link" option in the toolbar.

You can draw a rectangle around any area of the page to create a link zone. Then you choose what happens when someone clicks it — open a URL, jump to a specific page in the document, open another file, or even run a JavaScript action (though that last one is rare outside of specialized workflows).

Acrobat also lets you style the link — visible border or invisible, color, line thickness. For most documents, you want invisible links over existing text so it looks natural.

The downside? Adobe Acrobat Pro costs around $20/month. If adding hyperlinks is a one-time thing, that's a lot of money for a feature you can get for free elsewhere.

Method 4: Using Preview on Mac

If you're on a Mac, Preview can sort of do this, but with a big caveat. Preview lets you add annotations, and you can use a text annotation to create something that looks like a link. But it doesn't create actual clickable hyperlinks. The URL will just be visible text.

For actual clickable links in Preview, you'd need to use the "Annotate" toolbar and add a note or text box — but these aren't true PDF link annotations. They're workarounds at best.

Honestly, for adding hyperlinks on a Mac, you're better off using an online tool like OnlyDocs or exporting from Pages with the links already in place.

Types of Hyperlinks You Can Add

Not all PDF links point to websites. Here's what you can actually do:

Web URLs — The most common type. Click and it opens a browser to that address. Works in every PDF reader.

Email links — These use the mailto: format. Clicking one opens the user's default email client with the address pre-filled. Handy for contact pages in digital brochures.

Internal page links — These jump to a specific page or section within the same PDF. Great for tables of contents, "back to top" links, or cross-references in long documents. If you've ever read a well-made ebook where clicking a chapter title in the table of contents takes you right to that chapter — that's an internal link.

Links to other files — Less common, but some PDF editors let you create links that open another file on the reader's computer. This is fragile since it depends on the file being in the right location, so it's mainly used in controlled environments like company intranets.

Common Problems (and How to Fix Them)

Links aren't clickable after export. This usually happens when you use "Print to PDF" instead of "Save As" or "Export." Print functions strip interactive elements. Always use the export or save-as-PDF option in your word processor.

Links work on your computer but not on someone else's. If you linked to a local file (like C:\Users\You\report.pdf), that path doesn't exist on anyone else's machine. Use web URLs or relative paths for shared documents.

Links are clickable but the blue underline looks ugly. Most PDF editors let you style link appearance. In Acrobat, set the link type to "Invisible Rectangle." In online editors, look for an option to remove the border. The link will still be clickable — the cursor changes to a hand when hovering over it.

The PDF has a ton of URLs as plain text and none are clickable. Some PDF editors can auto-detect URLs and convert them to links. In Acrobat, you can do this through the "Create Links from URLs" feature. For free options, you might need to add each one manually, or use OnlyDocs to edit the document and add them.

A Few Tips for Better PDF Links

Keep your link text descriptive. "Click here" tells the reader nothing. "View the full case study" tells them exactly what they're getting. This matters for accessibility too — screen readers announce link text, and "click here" repeated 15 times is a nightmare for anyone using assistive technology.

Test your links after export. Open the PDF in a different reader than the one you used to create it. What works in Acrobat might behave differently in Chrome's built-in PDF viewer or in Preview on Mac.

Use shortened or clean URLs when the actual URL will be visible. A link that displays as "https://onlydocs.net/tools/pdf-editor" looks a lot better than a 200-character tracking URL with UTM parameters.

And if you're creating a document that will be both printed and viewed digitally, consider including the full URL as text alongside the clickable link. That way, someone reading a printed copy can still find the resource.

The Quick Version

If you're starting from a Word doc or Google Doc — add your links there before exporting to PDF. If you have an existing PDF that needs links — use a free online editor like OnlyDocs to add them. If you're already paying for Adobe Acrobat — use its Edit PDF tools for fine control over link placement and styling.

It's a small thing, but clickable links are the difference between a PDF that feels professional and one that feels like it was made in 2005. Take the extra minute to add them. Your readers will thank you.