Privacy Policy
Local PDF exists so you can merge, split, organize, convert, compress, and read text out of your PDFs without uploading them to anyone's server. Here is exactly what it does and does not do.
The short version
Your files never leave your device. Local PDF runs entirely in your browser — there is no server, no account, no sign-up, and no sync. There's no usage analytics or ad tracking; the payment provider that handles Pro may collect its own diagnostics. Your PDFs, the images you convert, and every bit of text pulled from them are never sent anywhere. The only time Local PDF sends your data over the network is if you choose to buy or restore Pro (a one-time OCR engine download from Local PDF's own site is the only other network use, and it carries none of your files) — see Payments below.
Your files never leave your device. Local PDF runs entirely on your iPhone or iPad — there is no server, no account, no sign-up, and no sync. There's no usage analytics or ad tracking; the payment provider that handles Pro may collect its own diagnostics. Your PDFs, the images you convert, and every bit of text pulled from them are never sent anywhere. The app's only network use is around Pro: buying it if you choose to, and a quick check at launch — an anonymous identifier, nothing more — to confirm whether Pro is unlocked. See Payments below.
How your files are handled
Every tool — Merge, Split / Extract, Organize Pages, Images → PDF, PDF → Images, Compress, Search text, Extract text, Scan to text (OCR), Add page numbers, Watermark, Remove metadata, Sign, and Redact — works on your file in memory, on your own device. A file you drop in is read into your device's memory, processed there, and the result is handed back to you as a download. Nothing about the file is uploaded, and nothing about it is written to permanent storage by Local PDF — once you close or reload the tab, the file's contents are gone from memory.
Even the on-device OCR ("Scan to text") runs locally: the recognition engine and its English language model (about 13 MB, downloaded once from Local PDF's own site the first time you use OCR, then cached by your browser for offline use) run inside your browser. Your scanned pages are never sent out for recognition.
Even the on-device OCR ("Scan to text") runs locally: the recognition engine and its English language model ship inside the app, so nothing is downloaded — recognition runs from files bundled with the app, and your scanned pages are never sent out for recognition.
What it stores, and where
Local PDF deliberately stores as little as possible, and nothing about your documents. Your PDFs and their contents are not saved anywhere by the app — there is no history, no recent-files list, and no cache of your documents.
The only things kept on your device are two small preferences in your browser's localStorage:
The only things kept on your device are a few small preferences in the app's private on-device storage:
localpdf.theme— whether you chose light, dark, or system appearance.localpdf.code_ack— a simple yes/no flag remembering that you've saved your Pro license card, so the reminder banner stops nagging.
If you buy Pro, your restore code (an anonymous key that looks like LPDF-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) is also kept on your device so Pro stays unlocked. None of these contain any of your file content, and the only thing the code is ever used for is confirming your Pro unlock.
If you buy Pro in the app, a small yes/no flag remembering that Pro is unlocked is kept on your device — the purchase itself lives with your Apple Account, and Restore Purchases brings it back anytime. None of these contain any of your file content.
In the app, these same small preferences live in the app's private on-device storage, sandboxed to Local PDF the same way any other app's data is. If you clear your browser's site data (or uninstall the app), those preferences are gone — but since your PDFs were never stored in the first place, there was never anything of yours to lose.
That storage is sandboxed to Local PDF the same way any other app's data is. If you delete the app, those preferences are gone — but since your PDFs were never stored in the first place, there was never anything of yours to lose.
What we send anywhere
Your files and their contents: nothing. Merging, splitting, converting, compressing, searching, extracting, OCR, and page-numbering all happen entirely on your device — the PDFs are built and edited locally using open-source libraries (pdf-lib and pdf.js) bundled into the app itself. None of your documents, images, or extracted text is ever transmitted.
The one exception is buying or restoring Pro, which you opt into. If you do, the payment processor (Stripe, via RevenueCat) handles the checkout, and an anonymous device identifier / restore code is used to check whether Pro is active. That request carries no files, no images, and no document text — see Payments for exactly what it can see.
The one exception is payments. On iPhone and iPad, Apple handles the purchase through the App Store if you choose to buy Pro, and at launch the app checks whether Pro is active using an anonymous identifier. Those checks carry no files, no images, and no document text — see Payments for exactly what they can see.
When you save a result, the file is handed to your operating system's own share sheet (in the app) or your browser's own download prompt (on the web) — Local PDF doesn't choose where it goes next; you do.
Payments
Local PDF is free to use. If you want the extras (see below), Pro is a one-time $9.99 purchase — not a subscription. You unlock it once and it's yours.
Pro (the Local PDF Pro unlock) adds advanced compression levels (the Light and Maximum options in Compress — the default Recommended level stays free), batch processing — running Compress or PDF → Images across many files at once and getting them back as a single ZIP — and the “Download all as ZIP” option when splitting a PDF into separate pages or exporting a PDF as page images. Every other tool stays free and fully functional.
If you upgrade to Pro, payments are securely processed by Stripe and RevenueCat. You enter your payment details directly with our payment providers — we never see or store your full card number.
To process your purchase, our payment providers share limited information with us, including:
- your email address
- your name (if your payment method provides it)
- the amount paid
- your card's brand and last four digits
We use this information only to send receipts, process refunds, and provide customer support. Your payment information is never linked to your data inside the app, never used for marketing, and never sold or shared.
Stripe and RevenueCat process your payment and retain their own transaction records under their respective privacy policies. See Stripe's Privacy Policy and RevenueCat's Privacy Policy.
30-day money-back guarantee. If Pro isn't for you, email support@localpdfapp.com within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.
On iPhone and iPad, Pro is sold through the App Store using Apple's In-App Purchase. Apple handles the entire checkout — you pay with your Apple Account. We never see or handle your card, and we never receive your name or email.
After a purchase, all we receive is anonymized sales totals from Apple (how many, not who) and a random identifier from RevenueCat that the app uses at launch to check whether Pro is active on your device. It isn't tied to your Apple Account, your name, or anything you create in the app — and it's never used for marketing, never sold, and never shared.
Your receipt comes from Apple, and any refund is handled by Apple, not by us. To request a refund, use Apple's own process at reportaproblem.apple.com. RevenueCat verifies your purchase on our behalf under its Privacy Policy.
Permissions, explained
The app requests no special device permissions — no contacts, no photos library access, no location, no camera, no microphone, no notifications. You choose files with the standard file picker, and the only other system interaction is the standard share sheet (in the app) or file download (web) used to hand your finished PDF, image, or text file to another app of your choosing, such as Mail or Files — the same mechanism any app uses to let you save or share a file, and one you control each time it happens.
Changes
If this policy ever changes, the updated version will be posted here with a new "Last updated" date.
Contact
Questions can be sent to: support@localpdfapp.com