There is a "magic" (and free) extension for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge that allows you to edit PDFs almost always for free
Adobe today announced an important update to the Acrobat extension for the web browsers Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, both based on the same platform (Chromium) and therefore able to share a good part of the extensions such as the one, very useful, for those who often deal with PDFs.
Thanks to the update, the extension for Chrome and Edge allows for some basic PDF edits many of which are free, which allows for greater comfort and also saves time. Specifically, the Adobe Acrobat extension for Chrome and Edge allows you to add comments to PDF files, stamps (or watermarks), but also to insert digital signatures and make basic changes to files without leaving the browser page, thus in full comfort and with great efficiency. It also seems that these features are also available for those using a Chromebook running Chrome OS.
The free features of the Acrobat extension
The Adobe Acrobat extension is available for free download on the appropriate page of the Chrome Web Store, both for Google's Chrome browser and Microsoft's Edge. As mentioned, with the latest update the PDF reader extension for Chrome allows you to comment on files, add watermarks, highlight certain passages, sign documents without having to install Adobe's program on your computer.
All these features are free for anyone with an Adobe account, which you can conveniently create and does not require any payment, neither one-time nor recurring. However, a subscription is required to expand the range of possibilities: converting a PDF to a Word file directly from the browser, converting a web page to PDF, adjusting the positioning and orientation of the pages that make up the PDF, as well as deleting some of them.
Although the features of the extension for Chrome and Edge are not all free, it is good that the most used ones are. So the answer to the recurring question about how to edit PDFs for free, and conveniently, brings up the extension for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge that with the latest update becomes even more useful and functional, if only because it allows you to avoid resorting to online services of dubious reliability to which, often, you struggle to send your PDF file for minor changes, especially if the document contains sensitive personal data.
How to get the Acrobat extension
To get the benefits of the browser extension you need to go to the Chrome Web Store, search for the (free) Adobe Acrobat extension and click on the Add button in blue, or alternatively use this link to go directly to the extension page.
If you have already downloaded it in the past, you need to activate it. To do so, you need to click on the three vertical dots in the top left corner of any Google Chrome window, then click on Other Tools > Extensions. On the new page just look for the Adobe Acrobat extension in the list and activate it with the screen cursor in the lower right corner of the tab. On Microsoft Edge the procedure is roughly similar.