PDFs shouldn't be this hard

You've met at least one of these.

Changing a PDF usually means paying for a plan, uploading it somewhere, or covering the old text with a white box. Oryx is a fast, free editor that works on your own computer and edits the text itself.

The editor that wants a subscription

You only needed to fix one typo in a contract. The PDF app wanted a monthly plan first.

01

The "free" website that keeps a copy

Upload your bank statement to edit it online, and hope it's deleted afterwards.

02

Text you can only cover up

Most editors let you draw a white box and type on top. Change a word and the line doesn't move.

03

The reader that crawls

A 900-page manual, and every scroll is a wait for blank pages to fill in.

04

Everything in one free app

Read it, edit it, sign it, ship it.

The things you'd normally pay a PDF subscription for, without the subscription.

Real text editing

Click a paragraph. Type. It reflows.

Oryx edits the text that is really in the PDF, the way a word processor does. Lines re-break inside the paragraph, justified text stays justified, and what's below moves down to make room.

Keeps the document's own font, size, colour and line spacing, including super- and subscripts
Bold, italic, font, size, colour, alignment and line spacing for a selection or a whole paragraph
Find & replace across the whole document, with regular expressions if you want them
Move, resize, rotate, replace and delete images
Start a new paragraph anywhere on the page

Word
LaTeX
InDesign
Browsers
Chinese, Japanese & Korean

Oryx editing a paragraph in place: the text reflows inside its frame and the paragraph below moves down

Annotate & review

Mark it up. Talk it through.

Highlight, comment, draw and measure, with standard PDF annotations that look the same in every other PDF app.

Highlight, underline, strike out and squiggly underline straight from a text selection
Sticky notes, text boxes, freehand ink, rectangles, ellipses and arrows
A comments panel with replies and review status (accepted, rejected, cancelled, completed)
Measure distances, perimeters and areas, to scale

A PDF with highlights, a sticky note and arrows, and the comments panel listing them with replies

Forms & signatures

Fill it in, sign it, send it back.

Fill the form fields a PDF already has, or type anywhere on one that has none. Then sign it with a signature you draw, type or import.

Text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons and lists, with the form's own calculations and formats
Fill & Sign for any PDF: text, ticks, crosses and today's date anywhere on the page
Saved signatures, ready for the next document
Flatten forms, comments and signatures into the page before you share it

A form being filled in, with a drawn signature placed on the signature line

Pages & files

Every page where you want it.

Reorder, rotate and delete pages by dragging thumbnails. Combine documents, pull pages out into a new file, and send smaller files.

Insert pages from other PDFs, blank pages, or extract a selection to a new file
Headers, footers, page numbers, Bates numbers and watermarks
Save a compressed copy, with images downsampled to the quality you choose
Password protection with AES-256, and permissions for printing, copying and editing

The page organizer, with page thumbnails being dragged into a new order

Fast on any file

Big documents feel small.

Oryx draws pages on several cores at once, and only what you can see, so a thousand-page manual scrolls as smoothly as a one-page letter. Light and dark themes follow your system, and dark pages keep photos in their true colours.

Scrolling
144 fps

on a 1,000-page document, with no dropped frames
Search
As you type

results stream in, and files you opened before are searchable too
Tabs
Many at once

each document in its own tab, each remembering its page and zoom
Crash-safe
Every edit

is journaled, so unsaved changes come back after a crash

Private by design

Your documents are nobody else's business.

Your files stay on your computerOryx opens, edits and saves documents on your machine. Nothing is uploaded, ever.
No account, no telemetryNothing to sign up for, and Oryx doesn't report what you open or how you use it.
Never online on its ownOryx doesn't check for updates or call home. It goes online only when you click a web link.
Safe with untrusted PDFsDocuments are opened in separate processes, so a broken file can't take the app down, and PDF JavaScript is limited to form calculations.

Oryx vs a typical PDF editor

Everything included. Nothing to pay.

Capability	A typical PDF editor	Oryx PDF Editor
Price	Monthly or yearly subscription	Free. No paid features
Editing text	Often a white box with new text on top	Edits the real text and reflows it
Where your file goes	Online editors upload it	Stays on your computer
Account	Usually required	None
Annotations, forms & signatures	Often in a higher plan	Included
Page organizing & compression	Often in a higher plan	Included
Password protection	Often in a higher plan	AES-256, included
Telemetry	Common	None

Get Oryx PDF Editor 1.0.3 · Free

Editing in a minute.

Pick the file for your system. We'll email you a one-time code, and the download starts as soon as you enter it.

Windows

Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit

macOS

macOS 11 Big Sur or later

Oryx.PDF.Editor_1.0.3_universal.dmgOne file for Apple silicon and Intel

Linux

64-bit (x86_64)

First launch & new versions

Windows

If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", choose More info → Run anyway. On Windows 10, the installer adds Microsoft's WebView2 if it's missing. Or install with winget: winget install Unravelers.OryxPDFEditor

macOS

Drag Oryx PDF Editor into Applications. The first time, open System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. (On macOS 14 and earlier, right-click the app and choose Open.)

Linux

Install the .deb with apt or the .rpm with dnf, like any other package. The AppImage needs no install: make it executable (chmod +x) and run it.

New versions

Oryx never updates itself. When you want a new version, download it here and install it over the old one. Your settings, signatures and recent files are kept.

The first-launch warning appears because Oryx is new and not yet widely downloaded; it only shows once. Verify your download (optional): each file's SHA-256 checksum is in SHA256SUMS.txt. By installing Oryx you agree to its license.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Something else, or found a PDF Oryx gets wrong? Email jamal@unravelers.tech.

Is Oryx PDF Editor really free?

Yes, for everyone, at home and at work. There are no paid features, no trial, no watermark on what you save, and no license keys.

Does it upload my documents?

No. Oryx works entirely on your computer and never sends your documents, or anything about them, anywhere.

Can it change the text in any PDF?

Text that is really text, yes: from Word, LaTeX, InDesign, browsers and most other tools, including Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Scanned pages are pictures of text, so they can't be edited as text yet. Right-to-left scripts such as Arabic and Hebrew aren't supported for editing yet.

Will the file still open in other apps?

Yes. Oryx saves standard PDF: annotations, form entries, signatures and edited text appear the same in Adobe Acrobat, browsers and other readers.

Are the signatures legally binding?

Oryx places signatures you draw, type or import as an image on the page, which is how most everyday documents are signed. Certificate-based digital signatures aren't supported yet.

Why does Windows or macOS show a warning the first time?

Both systems double-check apps that aren't yet widely downloaded. It only happens on the first launch; the steps are in the download section above.

How do I get new versions?

Download the newest version from this page and install it over the old one. Oryx doesn't update itself or check for updates in the background.

Which systems are supported?

Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), macOS 11 or later on Apple silicon and Intel, and 64-bit Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE and others).

License agreement

Oryx PDF Editor - End-User License Agreement

By installing or using Oryx PDF Editor (the "Software") you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, don't install or use it.

1. Free to use

The Software is free of charge. You may install it on any number of devices and use it for personal, educational, commercial and government purposes. There are no license keys, accounts, subscriptions or paid features.

2. What you may not do

You may not sell, rent or sublicense the Software; modify it, or reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble it, except where applicable law expressly allows this despite this restriction; remove or change its copyright notices; or distribute modified copies. You may share unmodified copies of the official installers, free of charge, as long as these terms go with them.

3. Your documents and privacy

The Software works on your computer. It does not send your documents, their contents or your usage to Unravelers Technologies (FZE) or anyone else, and it has no telemetry. It connects to the internet only when you ask it to, for example to open a web link.

4. Third-party components

The Software includes open-source components under their own licenses, listed in the third-party notices that come with it (Help > About). Those licenses apply to those components.

5. Ownership

The Software is licensed, not sold. Unravelers Technologies (FZE) keeps all rights, title and interest in it, including all intellectual property rights.

6. No warranty

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. Keep copies of documents that matter before editing them.

7. Limitation of liability

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, UNRAVELERS TECHNOLOGIES (FZE) SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR ITS USE, INCLUDING LOSS OF DATA OR DOCUMENTS.

8. Ending

These terms end automatically if you break them; you must then remove the Software. Sections 5 to 7 survive.

9. Changes

New versions of the Software may come with updated terms, which apply to those versions.

Questions: https://unravelers.tech/products/oryx-pdf-editor

No subscription. No upload. No catch.

The PDF editor you don't have to pay for.

Oryx PDF Editor is free for Windows, macOS and Linux. Edit the text, sign the form, and keep your files to yourself.

Download Oryx, free Talk to us

Oryx PDF Editor Edit PDFs like documents. Free.