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Bates Numbering Without Adobe Acrobat
You do not need Acrobat to put Bates numbers on a PDF. Drop your files below to number them for free in this browser tab, with nothing to install and nothing uploaded. The rest of the page says what Acrobat does and does not do, and when it is still the better tool.
Add Bates Numbers Without Acrobat
or drag PDF files, a whole folder or a ZIP here
Free, no limit on files, no sign-up. Files are read on your device and never uploaded.
Save as PDF
Keep this tab open until the download starts. Closing it stops the export.
One row per email and per attachment, with its first and last number.
Bates numbers for PDFs
Keep this tab open until the download starts. Closing it stops the numbering.
One row per file, with its pages and its first and last number.
Several emails? The paid features save them all at once: a ZIP of PDFs, or one merged PDF sorted by date with a contents page and page numbers. PDF and image attachments are added after their email, and all attachments come as a ZIP.
Case Pass
For one case or one clean-up.
US$29.90 one-time
for 90 days
One-time · 90 days · 14-day refund
Pro
For offices that save emails every week.
US$14.90 /month
billed every month
Cancel any time · 14-day refund
US$99 /year
≈ US$8.25/month, billed yearly
Cancel any time · 14-day refund
Recommended
Legal
For law firms that send numbered evidence.
US$24.90 /month
billed every month
Cancel any time · 14-day refund
US$199 /year
≈ US$16.58/month, billed yearly
Cancel any time · 14-day refund
The free version stays free. See pricing.
Why People Look for a Way Around Acrobat
The usual reason is the plan. Someone with Acrobat Standard opens the Bates numbering command and is told to buy Acrobat Pro. An Adobe employee confirmed this in the Adobe Community in October 2025:
“Bates numbering is not available in Acrobat Standard, you need to purchase Acrobat Pro to use bates numbering.”
Other reasons show up in the same forum. In a 2016 thread a user with 800,000 pages wanted to number them in one run; a community expert answered that, from experience, more than about 500 files at a time was not likely to work. In a 2018 thread a user of Acrobat Pro X reported that on the last two pages the number bled through the text when one option was ticked.
What You Need Instead
A web browser and your PDFs. This page reads the files in the browser tab and writes the numbered copies there too, so nothing is installed, no account is made and nothing is uploaded. Numbering PDFs is free for everyone and there is no cap on the number of files.
Your device does the work, so a very large set will take longer on an old laptop or a phone. If a set is big, split it into batches and carry the numbers on with Start the next batch.
Side by Side: Acrobat Pro and This Page
The Acrobat column is only what the Adobe Community threads above say; we did not test Acrobat ourselves.
| Question | Acrobat, as the community threads report | This page |
|---|---|---|
| Which plan has it? | Acrobat Pro, not Standard (Adobe employee, Oct 2025) | Free for everyone |
| Many files at once | A community expert (2016): more than about 500 at a time is not likely to work | No limit set by us; your device’s memory is the limit |
| Skipping cover pages | A community expert (2024) did not think the built-in features can; a page range can be set (a community reply, 2024) | Not possible either: every page of every listed file is numbered |
| Where the number goes | Chosen by the user; a 2018 thread describes adding it as a footer in the bottom right | Always the bottom right corner, on a strip made by shrinking the page a little |
| A check afterwards | Not covered in the threads we read | The numbers are read back from the finished file and checked |
What the Numbered File Looks Like
Each number is printed as small black text in the bottom right corner of its page, however the page is turned or cropped, and it is real text that a PDF reader can search. To keep it off your content, the page is shrunk by a few percent and the number goes on the strip that opens at the bottom. The page keeps its paper size; printed on paper, the content is slightly smaller than before.
If you want the footer to say more, tick “Page x of y” and that line is added in grey in the middle. Nothing else is added: no white box behind the number, no confidentiality legend, no exhibit stamp.
How to Do It Here, Step by Step
- Drop your PDFs on the box at the top of this page.
- Put them in the right order with the arrows, by dragging or with Sort by file name.
- Type a prefix and, if needed, a start number.
- Choose one merged PDF or a ZIP with one PDF per file, then click Download numbered PDF.
- Read the “Checked” line and download the number list (CSV).
The Bates numbering for PDF page explains the format and the checks in more depth, and add Bates numbers to a PDF is a longer checklist.
When You Need More Than This Page Does
This page does one job. It is the wrong tool if you need any of these:
- Numbers on only some pages, or a page range per file.
- Taking Bates numbers off a PDF again.
- Redaction, text recognition on scans or other editing in the same program.
- Production formats such as TIFF images and load files.
- A different position, font, size or colour for the number, or a prefix with characters outside A–Z, a–z, 0–9, space and - _ . /.
If your files are emails, the EML to PDF tool turns them into PDFs first, and the merge page can number emails and their attachments in one run on the Case Pass or Legal plan.
FAQ
Does Acrobat Standard have Bates numbering?
No. An Adobe employee wrote in the Adobe Community in October 2025 that Bates numbering is not available in Acrobat Standard and that Acrobat Pro is needed.
Is there a free way to Bates number a PDF?
Yes. Drop the PDF on this page, type a prefix, and download the numbered file. It is free and runs in your browser.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Open the page in a current browser and drop your files.
Are my files uploaded?
No. They are read and numbered in your browser. This page loads no third-party analytics or scripts. It sends only an anonymous count of which offer was shown, with the page path, to our own server; your files and their names are never part of it.
Is the result the same as in Acrobat?
We have not compared the two outputs. Here the number always goes in the bottom right corner and each page is shrunk a little to make room for it, so a numbered page is slightly smaller than its original. Check your court’s or client’s rules before you rely on one tool’s layout.