# How to crop a PDF on a Mac > On a Mac, open the PDF in Preview, show the Markup toolbar, choose Rectangular Selection, drag over the area to keep and click Crop, as Apple's guide describes. To crop many pages at once or trim white margins, use Crop PDF in your browser; it hides the rest of the page and keeps your file on your device. Page: https://pdfinish.com/blog/how-to-crop-a-pdf-on-mac Last updated: November 2, 2026 By PDFinish editorial team. Published October 28, 2026. You have a PDF with a thick scanner border, a wide white margin or a logo you do not need, and you want only the middle of the page. Your Mac has a way to do it, and so does your browser. This guide shows both, and says which one fits which job. If you want the quick browser route, open [Crop PDF](https://pdfinish.com/crop-pdf). It lets you draw the part to keep or trim the white margins, and it works on any pages you pick. The Mac steps below use Preview, the app that opens PDFs by default. The browser tool needs no install on a Mac, a Windows PC or a phone; see [which browsers and systems PDFinish works on](https://pdfinish.com/browser-support). ## Crop a PDF in Preview These steps follow Apple's own guide, [Crop or rotate a PDF in Preview on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/crop-or-rotate-a-pdf-prvw11567/mac), which we read on October 28, 2026. Menus can change a little between macOS versions, so if yours looks different, check Apple's page. 1. Open the PDF in Preview. 2. If the Markup toolbar is not showing, click the Show Markup Toolbar button. 3. Click the Rectangular Selection button. 4. Drag over the part of the page you want to keep. 5. Click the Crop button in the Markup toolbar. Two extras from Apple's page are worth knowing. To see the size of what you are selecting, choose Tools, then Show Inspector, then the Crop Inspector button, and pick a unit. To undo a crop right away, choose Edit, then Undo Crop. To go back later, use File, then Revert To, then Browse All Versions, and find the version from before the crop. ## Crop in your browser Preview is quick for one page. A browser tool is handier when you have many pages, or when you want the same margins taken off each one. [Crop PDF](https://pdfinish.com/crop-pdf) runs in your browser, so the file stays on your device and your original is not changed. If the pages also need a new paper size afterwards, see [how to resize a PDF file](https://pdfinish.com/blog/how-to-resize-a-pdf-file). 1. Add your PDF. Drop it onto the tool or choose it from your Mac. The first page is drawn so you can see what you are cropping. 2. Set the box. Drag on the page to draw the part to keep, or type how much to take off each edge in inches or millimetres. Press Trim white margins to fit the box to the content. 3. Pick the pages. Apply the crop to every page, or choose Only some pages and type a range such as 1-3, 5, 8-. 4. Save. Download the cropped PDF and open it to check each page. ## Which method fits? - One page, one quick trim: Preview is fine. It is already on your Mac. - A whole document with the same border on every page: use Crop PDF and apply it to all pages. - Only the middle pages have a problem: use Crop PDF with a page range, so the others stay as they are. - You want to mark the page up, not trim it: see [how to annotate a PDF on a Mac](https://pdfinish.com/blog/how-to-annotate-a-pdf-on-mac). - Pages with different sizes of white space: use Trim white margins. It looks at the content on each page you pick and keeps all of it, with a small gap. ## A worked example Say you scanned a signed contract and the scanner left a grey strip down one side of every page. Open Crop PDF, draw a box inside the strip on page 1, and check that no word touches the edge of the box. Apply it to all pages, save, and scroll through the result. If the signature page is shaped differently, rerun the crop on just that page by typing its number in the range box. Margins are measured from each page's own edges. A page that is a little off-center on the scanner glass may need its own crop. That is another reason to look at every page before you send the file. ## What cropping does not do Cropping changes what a page shows. In PDFinish, the text and images outside the box are still stored in the file, and some programs can show them again. Do not rely on a crop to hide a name, a number or an address. If something must not be in the file you send, [Redact PDF](https://pdfinish.com/redact-pdf) is the tool for it. It redraws marked pages as pictures with the boxes painted in, so what was under them is removed. ## After you crop - If the new page size looks odd when you print, set the paper size with [Resize PDF](https://pdfinish.com/resize-pdf). - If the page is turned the wrong way, [Rotate PDF](https://pdfinish.com/rotate-pdf) fixes it. Our guide [how to rotate a PDF and save it](https://pdfinish.com/blog/how-to-rotate-pdf-and-save) shows how. - If the file is still large after cropping, try [Compress PDF](https://pdfinish.com/compress-pdf). Cropping does not shrink the pictures inside the file. A crop is set in the file in a way that standard PDF viewers follow, and printing from most programs uses it too. A few specialist print tools look at the whole page instead, so test your print if it matters. ## A short checklist - Decide which pages need the crop. - Leave a small gap so no word touches the edge. - Check every page of the result, especially the first and last. - Keep the original file in case you want the full page back. - Use Redact PDF, not crop, for anything private. Free to start: 2 free uses in total, no account needed. Free files can be up to 50 MB, and Pro allows up to 500 MB. ## Common questions ### How do I crop a PDF on a Mac? Open it in Preview, show the Markup toolbar, choose Rectangular Selection, drag over the part to keep and click Crop. For many pages at once, use Crop PDF in your browser. ### Can I undo a crop in Preview? Yes. Apple's guide says to choose Edit, then Undo Crop, right after cropping. To go back later, use File, Revert To, Browse All Versions and pick an earlier version. ### Does cropping a PDF delete the parts outside the box? Not in PDFinish. Cropping sets what the page shows, and the rest stays in the file. To remove something for good, use Redact PDF instead. ### How do I crop only some pages of a PDF? In Crop PDF, choose Only some pages and type a range such as 1-3, 5, 8-. The other pages stay as they are. ### How do I trim the white margins off a PDF? Press Trim white margins in Crop PDF. It finds the edge of the content on each page you picked and sets the box to keep all of it, with a small gap. You can change the numbers before you save. ## Try it - [Crop PDF](https://pdfinish.com/crop-pdf): Crop pages to a box you draw, or trim the white margins. - [Redact PDF](https://pdfinish.com/redact-pdf): Black out words or areas for good, so the hidden text and pictures are really removed. - [Resize PDF](https://pdfinish.com/resize-pdf): Change the page size to Letter, A4, Legal and more. - [Rotate PDF](https://pdfinish.com/rotate-pdf): Turn sideways or upside-down pages the right way up. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.