Stirling PDF: open it, first login, settings, fixes
· Updated 18 September 2026 · SparkBox team
A powerful, self-hosted PDF toolkit. Merge, split, rotate, convert, compress, and watermark PDFs right in your browser. No files ever leave your server. This is the short card for it — the two minutes after you press Enable, and the page to come back to when something is off.
Open it
Dashboard → Apps → Stirling PDF → Open. The direct address on your network is:
http://<your-box-IP>:8084Upload a PDF or use the built-in tools to create, merge, and convert documents
First login
No login — Stirling PDF is an open toolbox, by design. It keeps nothing after processing, but anyone on your home network can use it, so keep it on your LAN and don't publish it to the internet.
Any password the installer generated for you is under Settings → Passwords; the Open button offers to copy it.
Worth knowing
- Drag and drop PDFs into the browser to start editing
- Use the merge tool to combine multiple PDFs into a single document
When it breaks
If it will not open, check the app card first — a red dot means it is restarting or unhealthy, and this walkthrough reads the reason from its log. Tom AI on the dashboard can do the same for you.
Where your data lives
/opt/sparkbox/modules/stirling-pdf/config/Included in the dashboard's Backup by default. Restoring that backup on a fresh install brings Stirling PDF back exactly as it was.
Questions, or did this not match your box?
Every guide here came from a real problem someone hit. If yours behaves differently, say so — that is how these get corrected, and how the fix gets prioritised.
We answer there rather than in a comment box, because that is where the people who have already solved it are.