How to Add Hyperlinks to a PDF Online Free (Editly Guide)
You sent your resume. The recruiter sees "GitHub: github.com/yourname/portfolio" as plain text and has to type it manually into a browser. Three seconds of friction, and three seconds is enough to lose attention. A clickable link sends them straight to your portfolio with a single tap.
The same pattern repeats everywhere. Business proposals with "case study at example.com/case-studies" as flat text. Newsletters with article links that recipients cannot click. Ebooks with reference lists that force readers to retype URLs. Training documents linking to external resources that nobody actually visits because typing is friction. PDF hyperlinks fix all of it. This guide covers how to add clickable links to any PDF using iHatePDF's Editly: web URLs, email addresses, internal page jumps, phone numbers, and clickable images. Free, no signup, no watermark.
- Open Editly and upload your PDF
- Pick the Link tool from the toolbar
- Select the text or image you want to make clickable
- Paste the URL, email address, or pick a page within the PDF
- Confirm, then download the linked PDF
How to add a hyperlink to a PDF in Editly (full walkthrough)
- Upload your file. Open Editly and drop your PDF onto the upload area, or click to browse. Cloud import works from Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. Word documents and images work too, both convert to PDF on save.
- Find the Link tool in the toolbar. Look for the chain-link icon, usually grouped with the text and annotation tools.
- Select the target. Click and drag across the text you want to make clickable, or click an image to select it. The selection becomes the clickable region.
- Choose the link type. Three options: a web URL (paste any http or https address), an email address (entered as a plain email, which becomes a mailto: link), or an internal page jump (pick a target page from the PDF page list).
- Paste or enter the destination. Test the URL in a browser first to confirm it works and goes where you expect.
- Style the link visually (optional). Add an underline, change the text colour to blue or your preferred link colour, so readers can tell it is clickable. Without visible styling, the link still works on click but readers will not know to try.
- Repeat for additional links. Add as many as you need across as many pages as you need. Each link is independent, individually editable later.
- Click Download. Your linked PDF saves to your device. Test the links in a PDF viewer before sharing, especially for important documents.
Types of links you can add to a PDF
External web URLs
Any standard https or http URL. The most common type. Use cases: portfolio link in a resume, case study link in a sales proposal, reference list in an ebook, "learn more" in a brochure, product page links in a catalogue. The reader clicks, their default browser opens, and the URL loads.
Email mailto links
An email address in your PDF becomes a clickable link that opens the reader's default mail app (Outlook, Apple Mail, Gmail, Thunderbird) with the address pre-filled in the To field. Use cases: contact email in a resume, support email in a user manual, sales contact in a brochure. Saves the reader from copy-pasting the address into their mail app.
Internal page jumps
Link to any other page within the same PDF. The foundation for clickable tables of contents, cross-references between sections, jumps to appendices and footnotes, "back to top" navigation, and chapter buttons in ebooks. Reader clicks, the PDF viewer jumps straight to the target page. Essential for any document longer than 20 pages.
Phone number tel: links
On mobile devices, a tel: link prompts the phone app to call the number when tapped. On desktop, it opens Skype, Teams, or FaceTime depending on the user setup. Use cases: business card-style contact info in a proposal, support line in a manual, sales hotline in a brochure. Especially valuable for documents read on mobile.
Clickable images and logos
Attach a link to any image in the PDF. Reader clicks the image and the link target opens. Common patterns: clickable company logo in a document header that goes to the company website, clickable thumbnail in a portfolio that opens the full project page, clickable QR code that links to its destination, clickable social media icons that go to your profiles. Combine with image insertion for a complete clickable-image workflow.
Other documents at a URL
Link to another PDF, Word document, or any file hosted at a URL. Common pattern: a project summary PDF that links out to the detailed technical PDF, the financial appendix PDF, and the legal terms PDF, all hosted on your company server or cloud storage. The reader gets a single overview document with one-click access to all supporting materials.
Where PDF hyperlinks matter most
| Document type | What to link |
|---|---|
| Resume / CV | Portfolio, LinkedIn, GitHub, project links, email, phone |
| Business proposal | Case studies, company website, demo videos, calendar booking |
| Ebook / whitepaper | Reference list, source citations, table of contents, chapter jumps |
| Training manual | Video tutorials, external resources, related articles, support email |
| Sales brochure / catalogue | Product pages, shopping cart, sales contact, phone number |
| Newsletter / digest | Full articles, source links, social media, unsubscribe |
| Research / academic paper | Citations, source DOIs, dataset URLs, supplementary materials |
| Annual report | Section jumps, financial appendix, press releases, investor page |
| Event programme | Speaker bios, session details, venue map, registration link |
| Restaurant menu | Reservations, ordering page, phone number, allergen page |
| Real estate listing | Virtual tour, neighbourhood info, agent contact, booking |
| Wedding / event invitation | RSVP form, venue map, gift registry, hotel booking |
Building a clickable table of contents
The most valuable use of internal page links. Standard for any PDF longer than 20 pages. Three steps:
- Confirm your page numbers. Look at your finished PDF and write down which page each section starts on. Section 1 (Introduction) → page 3. Section 2 (Background) → page 8. And so on.
- Edit the table of contents text. If you do not already have a contents page, add one near the front using a text block. List your sections with their page numbers, formatted however you like.
- Add an internal link to each entry. Select the section name text, pick the Link tool, choose "Page within document" as the target type, pick the matching page number, confirm. Repeat for each section.
The result is a contents page where every entry is clickable, taking the reader straight to that section. Compared to scrolling through a long document, the time savings are dramatic, and readers actually use the linked sections instead of giving up and skimming.
Best practices for PDF hyperlinks
- Make link text descriptive. "Read our case study" or "View the GitHub repository" tells the reader what they will get. "Click here" tells them nothing, and in a printed copy it leaves them with no clue what the link was. Descriptive anchor text also helps accessibility and screen readers.
- Style links so they look clickable. Blue colour, underline, or both. Without visual styling, readers assume the text is plain and never click. The PDF reader does not always show hover effects, so visual cues in the document are essential.
- Test every link before sharing. Open the downloaded PDF in your usual viewer (Adobe Reader, browser, or mobile app) and click each link. A broken link in a sales proposal is embarrassing; a broken link in a research paper damages credibility.
- Use HTTPS URLs. Plain HTTP shows as "Not Secure" in modern browsers and may be blocked. Always use HTTPS when available.
- Show the visible URL alongside the link text when sharing for print. "Visit our portfolio at example.com/portfolio" works as both a clickable link in digital and a typeable URL in print. The reader has both options.
- Use a URL shortener for tracking. Tools like Bitly, Rebrandly, or your own short-link service give click analytics. The shortener forwards to the real destination while counting visits. Useful for sales proposals, marketing brochures, and any document where engagement matters.
- Keep internal links updated. If you reorder pages or add new sections, internal page jumps may now point to the wrong target. Re-test all internal links after structural changes.
- Avoid linking to content that may move. Link to canonical pages on stable domains, not to specific blog post URLs that might change or be deleted. Better to link to the homepage of a reliable source than a deep URL that 404s in two years.
- Limit link density. Five clickable items in one paragraph confuses readers. Pick the most important link and make it prominent, mention others in plain text or as a "see also" footer.
- Mark external links visually. An "↗" or "(external)" suffix on outbound links sets reader expectations, especially in long documents where some links jump within and others go elsewhere.
Common scenarios in detail
Resume / CV with portfolio links
Standard structure: contact email at the top (mailto link), LinkedIn URL (clickable to your profile), GitHub URL (clickable to your repository), portfolio website (clickable), then individual project descriptions where the project name is linked to its live demo or case study. A recruiter opening your PDF can click straight from your resume into your work, no copy-pasting URLs. The difference between a clicked portfolio and a "I'll check it later" portfolio is significant.
Business proposal with case studies and demo links
Link the "Case Study: Client X" section heading to the full case study on your website. Link the demo video mention to the actual video URL (YouTube, Vimeo, or your own hosting). Link "Book a call" text to your calendar booking page (Calendly, Cal.com, your own scheduler). Add a clickable logo at the top linking to your homepage. The proposal becomes a navigation hub for everything you want the prospect to see, instead of a flat document with URLs they have to type.
Ebook with clickable table of contents and reference list
Build the clickable table of contents at the front using internal page links (see the dedicated section above). At the back, build a reference list where each source is a clickable URL to the original article, paper, or page. Inside chapters, link key terminology to glossary pages. The ebook becomes navigable like a website while staying a single portable file.
Newsletter PDF with article links
Each headline links to the full article on your website. Author names link to author bios. Image thumbnails link to the article they preview. Social media icons in the footer link to your accounts. Unsubscribe text links to your unsubscribe page. The newsletter PDF behaves like a digital newsletter, even when delivered as a PDF attachment.
Training manual with video tutorial links
Each section that has a corresponding video tutorial links to the video URL. The manual itself remains the canonical written reference, but readers can jump to video walkthroughs when they prefer learning visually. Support email is mailto-linked, the training platform login URL is clickable, the help centre is one click away.
Workflow chaining: what to do after adding links
- Annotate and review. Add comments, highlights, or sticky notes to your linked PDF before final delivery. Full markup coverage in the annotation guide.
- Sign formally. For contracts or proposals, run through Sign PDF for multi-party signature workflow with audit trail.
- Compress for email. Linked PDFs with embedded images can be large. Compress PDF reduces size for email-friendly delivery.
- Protect. For confidential documents with embedded links, add password security with Protect PDF.
- Share as link. Skip email attachments. Share PDF as link gives recipients a temporary URL with expiry control.
- Merge with supporting documents. Combine your linked overview PDF with appendices, financial details, and supporting files using Merge PDF.
- Convert for editing. Need to send the linked content as Word for further work? PDF to Word preserves most links during conversion.
Privacy and security
Linked PDFs often contain sensitive contextual data: internal URLs to staging environments, private dashboard links, customer-specific portals, calendar booking with your real availability. Editly is designed for it. Files upload over HTTPS, process on our server, return to you with hyperlinks embedded, and delete automatically at the end of your session. No human review, no AI training, no third-party sharing. GDPR-compliant. Full picture in the privacy and security guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I add multiple hyperlinks to one PDF?
Yes, unlimited. Add as many links as you need across as many pages as you need. Common use cases reach 30 to 60 links per document (resume with portfolio links, ebook with reference list, training manual with external resources, sales proposal with case study links). Each link is independent, individually editable, and individually removable.
What types of links can I add to a PDF?
External web URLs (any https or http address), email addresses (mailto: links that open the reader's email client with the address pre-filled), internal page jumps (link to any other page within the same PDF, useful for table of contents and cross-references), phone numbers (tel: links that prompt mobile devices to call), and links to other documents at a URL. Anything that works as a hyperlink in a browser works in a PDF.
Can I make an image clickable?
Yes. Add or select any image in the PDF, then attach a link to it the same way you would attach a link to text. Common pattern: clickable logo in a document header that goes to your company website, clickable thumbnail in a portfolio that goes to the full project page, clickable QR code that links to its destination URL.
Can I link to a specific page within the same PDF?
Yes. Internal page links let you build a clickable table of contents, navigation buttons (Next/Previous), cross-references between sections, and jumps to appendices or footnotes. The recipient can click and jump straight to the target page, the standard way modern ebooks and long reports are navigated.
Will hyperlinks work when the PDF is printed?
Links are interactive in digital viewers but not on printed paper, since a piece of paper cannot launch a browser. For printed copies, the URL itself usually displays in the visible text (e.g., 'visit ihatepdf.com'), so the reader can type it manually. Best practice is to make the link text itself a URL or a meaningful descriptive phrase, never bare 'click here'.
Can I edit or remove a hyperlink after adding it?
Yes. Open the PDF in Editly, click the existing link to select it, then either update the URL, change the link text or target, or delete the link entirely. The text or image remains, only the clickable behaviour is removed when you delete a link.
Do PDF hyperlinks work in all PDF viewers?
Yes, in all standard PDF readers: Adobe Acrobat Reader, browser PDF viewers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge), iOS Files and Preview, Android PDF readers, and ebook readers. Hyperlinks are part of the PDF standard since version 1.1 (1996), supported universally.
Are my files kept private?
Yes. Files upload over HTTPS, process on our server, return to you with hyperlinks embedded, and delete automatically at the end of your session. No human review, no AI training, no third-party sharing. GDPR-compliant. Safe for confidential proposals, internal documents with corporate URLs, and any other sensitive content.
Can I add hyperlinks to a password-protected PDF?
You need the password to open the file first. Once unlocked, adding hyperlinks works normally. To keep the protected status after editing, re-apply password protection with Protect PDF after adding the links. The combination of password-protected delivery plus clickable references is the standard setup for premium ebooks and confidential reports.
Do hyperlinks work on mobile PDF viewers?
Yes. Tap a link on mobile and the appropriate action triggers automatically: web URLs open in the default browser, mailto links open the mail app with the address pre-filled, tel links prompt the phone app to call. Mobile is actually where PDF hyperlinks shine, since typing URLs on a phone keyboard is painful and a single tap is instant.
Can I track who clicked my PDF links?
Not from inside the PDF itself, since PDF links go directly to the destination without intermediary tracking. To track clicks, use a URL shortener with analytics (Bitly, Rebrandly, or your own short link service) as the link target. The shortener counts clicks while still redirecting to the final destination, useful for sales proposals where engagement matters.
Web URLs, email links, internal page jumps, clickable images. Free, no signup, no watermark.
Open Editly →Use other tools
Everything you need to work with PDFs, free, fast, and private.
Show all tools →