In this guide, we will learn: How to Upload a PDF to WordPress (Simple Guide) – guide 2023
Looking for a simple, step-by-step guide for how to upload a PDF to WordPress?
There are many reasons why you might need to upload a PDF to WordPress, but normally it’s because you want your visitors to be able to download it. Whatever your reason is, we’ll walk you step-by-step through how to add or upload a PDF to your site.
As a bonus, we’ll show you how you can track how many of your visitors are clicking on your PDF link to download it.
Walkthrough: How To Upload a PDF to WordPress
Let’s dive in to our tutorial for adding a PDF to your site.
Step 1: Upload Your PDF to the Media Library
First, open your WordPress admin and hover over Media, then click Add New:


Step 2: Embed Your PDF in a Page or Post
Now that your PDF is added to your media library, you can embed it wherever you wanted it to go on your site. Whether you’re adding it to a page or post, it’s the same instructions.
Did you want to just link to your PDF instead of embed it? You can jump to our instructions for linking to your PDF file.
To get started, open the page or post you want your PDF file to be on. Navigate to the spot where you want it, then click the Plus icon or type a backslash “/” to choose a block:



Choose your PDF and click Select:


Step 3: Link to Your PDF Anywhere in WordPress
If you want to just create a text link or a button that links to your PDF, here’s how to do that.
Head back to your Media library and click on your PDF. On the right side, you’ll see the File URL. This is the URL you can link to anywhere on your WordPress site to open your PDF.

For example, here we’re creating a button widget for our sidebar that’ll let visitors download the PDF. If you just start typing the name of your file into the URL bar, you should be able to find it and click on it to insert your PDF URL:

BONUS: Track PDF Downloads Effortlessly
Now that you have a PDF available for download on your site, wouldn’t it be cool if you could see how many of your visitors are downloading it?
You’re in luck! You can quickly and easily track PDF downloads using MonsterInsights, the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress.
MonsterInsights is the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. It allows you to easily connect your WordPress site with Google Analytics (both Universal Analytics and GA4), so you can view all the data that matters most right in your WordPress dashboard.

All you have to do is install MonsterInsights and the plugin will automatically start tracking your PDF downloads:

Want to learn how to track more than your downloads? Check out How to Track Link Clicks in Google Analytics 4 and WordPress.