Three tools for PDF paperwork have just joined the school toolkit on our site. (1) “PDF Password” (PDFパスワード) for adding and removing PDF passwords, (2) “PDF Merge & Page Organizer” (PDF結合・ページ整理) for combining several PDFs into one, and (3) “PDF Split & Page Extract” (PDF分割・ページ抽出) for pulling out just the pages you need.
All three are free, require no sign-up, and need no installation. And their biggest distinction is that, unlike the usual PDF services, they never upload your file anywhere. Everything runs entirely inside the browser on your own computer or tablet.
In the first half of this article I'll cover what each one does and how to use it; in the second half, why they work without uploading — that is, why they're safe even for school paperwork.
Sound familiar?
You've been told “please password-protect the PDF before you submit it,” but you have no software on hand to set one. You want to combine two separate PDFs — the monthly schedule and a draft plan — into a single set of meeting materials. You want to pull just three needed pages out of a thick stack of scans. Any of these ring a bell?
Search and you'll find free PDF services in no time. But almost all of them have an “upload your file” button. Is it really okay to send a class roster or a handout to some provider's server you don't know much about? Plenty of people have hesitated right at that moment.
With these three tools, you can do all of that with no upload at all. Let me introduce them in turn.
(1) PDF Password — set it, remove it, restrict it
PDF Password
Set or remove an open password; restrict printing and copying
This tool lets you put an open password on a PDF, or strip the password from a PDF whose password you know. In the advanced settings you can also apply permission restrictions such as no printing, no text copying, and no editing (encryption is AES-128).
It takes three steps. Drag and drop the PDF to load it, type a password (plus a confirmation), and press “Set password and download.” Removing a password follows the same flow: enter the current password and press the remove button.
It's handy when you're asked to “send or submit it with a password” but have no way to set one, or when you want to limit who can view materials shared between schools.
(2) PDF Merge & Page Organizer — combine, reorder, rotate
PDF Merge & Page Organizer
Several PDFs into one. Reorder, rotate, and drop pages by thumbnail
Load several PDF files at once and every page lines up as a thumbnail (a shrunken image). From there, drag to change the order, use ⟳ to rotate pages that were scanned upside down, use ✕ to drop pages you don't need, and press “Merge in this order” to get a single PDF.
Click a thumbnail and an enlarged preview opens, so you can check a page's contents at full size as you organize. A magnifier button zooms in even further, so even documents with tiny text are no problem.
It shines when you're combining meeting materials like a monthly schedule and a draft plan into one, or tidying up documents that were scanned in pieces.
(3) PDF Split & Page Extract — pull out, divide
PDF Split & Page Extract
Extract only the pages you need; or split by ranges marked with ✂
From a single PDF, choose only the pages you need and pull them out as a new PDF. As well as tapping thumbnails to select, it accepts page-number ranges like “1-3, 5.”
The other mode is “split by range.” Drop a ✂ divider between pages and the file splits into several PDFs by section — for example, “one PDF for pages 1–3, another for page 4 onward” — bundled together in a ZIP for download. A “split every page” button can also break the whole document into single pages.
It's well suited to handing out just the relevant part of a thick stack, or dividing a file chapter by chapter.
What they share — they never “upload” your file
Here's the most important point that all three tools share.
A typical online PDF service is server-side: it sends (uploads) your file to the provider's server, processes it there, and returns the result. Most are run honestly, but it doesn't change the fact that your file's contents leave your device at least once — to a third party's server.
Teachers and school staff have a duty of confidentiality (in Japan, under Article 34 of the Local Public Service Act and elsewhere), and many local governments restrict the uploading of files containing personal information to external services through their information-security policies. In other words, for school paperwork, the act of “sending it externally” can itself be the problem.
So these three tools were built in-browser from the start. Today's browsers are powerful, and processing like encrypting, merging, and splitting a PDF is well within what they can do on their own without leaning on a server. The moment you open the page, the needed program arrives on your device, and the PDF you choose is loaded, processed, and saved to your Downloads folder entirely within your device's memory. No communication that sends your file's contents over the internet ever takes place.
Server-side (the common approach)
In-browser (these tools)
And this isn't just a promise on our part — you can verify it yourself. After you open the page and load a file, try cutting your connection (Wi-Fi or wired LAN). A server-side tool would become unable to do anything, but this one keeps working to the end — setting the password, merging, splitting — with the connection off. That's the clearest proof it's all processed within your device.
A note on using it at school — an honest line to draw
“Never sent externally” doesn't mean it's fine for anything. Especially sensitive school records — such as guidance records or grade lists — should as a rule be handled through organizationally managed systems, like a school-affairs support system or an encrypted file server designated by the local government; this tool is not a substitute for those.
Also, the processed PDF is saved to your device's Downloads folder. If you use a shared computer in the staff room, take care about where the finished file ends up and about deleting it. Whether you may use it for school business is a judgment to make in line with the information-security policy of your local government and school. Each tool's page also includes an FAQ that covers how it relates to your duty of confidentiality.
In closing
“PDF Password” to set a password, “PDF Merge & Page Organizer” to combine into one, and “PDF Split & Page Extract” to pull out the pages you need. Every one of them is free and needs no sign-up, and each works entirely within the browser without uploading your file.
Including that trick of “it still works with the connection off,” please give them a casual try first. If you find yourself thinking “I wish there were a document tool that also did X,” I'd be glad to hear it through the feedback form.
See the “document” tools
PDF Password, Merge, Split and more — document tools that never send data externally