PDF Viewer

New

Open and read a PDF in your browser.

Runs in your browser

Runs in your browser — your file never leaves your device.

Drop your PDF here, or browseOne PDF, opened in your browser: nothing is uploaded

About this tool

Open a PDF to read it in your browser: scroll the pages, zoom, search the text, follow its links and bookmarks, print or download it. Nothing is uploaded.

This tool processes files entirely on your device. Nothing is uploaded to a server.

More details

PDF Viewer opens a PDF in this browser tab so you can read it: every page in one scrolling column, with zoom, page thumbnails, the document's bookmarks, search with the matches highlighted, and its links. Text you can select in the PDF can be selected and copied here too.

The file is read on your device with pdf.js and is not uploaded to pdf.xyz. It takes PDFs of up to 100 MB. A PDF opened on its own may have up to 10,000 pages; a longer one is refused before any page is read, with a link to Split PDF to save it in parts. A file whose author restricted printing or editing, but that opens without a password, opens here as it does in any viewer. Only a file that needs a password to open is refused, with a link to Unlock PDF if you know the password.

Only the pages near the one you are reading are drawn, at most 8 at a time, so a long document stays quick to scroll. The viewer never changes your file: Rotate view turns the pages on screen only, and Download PDF saves the same file you opened, byte for byte.

When to use it

Read a PDF on a computer without a PDF reader
Open the file here instead of installing anything. It is read in this tab and stays on your device.
Find a word in a long document
Press Search, type the word, and its matches are highlighted, up to the first 500; Next match and Previous match step through them.
Check a file before you send or edit it
Look through the pages, then carry the same file on to Annotate PDF, Edit PDF, Sign PDF or Compress PDF from the Do more with this PDF list, without picking it again.
Read a scan that is sideways
Rotate view turns every page a quarter turn on screen. To save the turn in the file, use Rotate PDF.

How it works

1Open your PDF
Drag the PDF into the drop area, or click it to pick the file from your device. It takes one file of up to 100 MB.
2Move through the pages
Scroll the column, use Previous page and Next page, or type a number in the page box and press Enter. With the pages focused, Page Up and Page Down step a page, and Home and End go to the first and last. Thumbnails and Bookmarks open a side panel to jump to a page.
3Zoom, turn and search
Zoom in and Zoom out step from 50% to 400%; the zoom menu also has Fit width and Fit page, and the page you are reading stays in view as the zoom changes. Rotate view turns the pages on screen. Search finds text and highlights the matches.
4Print, download or carry on
Print opens your browser's print dialog, Download PDF saves the file unchanged, and Do more with this PDF carries it to another tool.

Common questions

Is my PDF uploaded?

No upload: the file is read and drawn in your browser tab and is not sent to pdf.xyz. Download saves the copy already on your device.

Why does search find nothing on some pages?

Search reads the text stored in the PDF, the same text you can select. A scanned page is a picture of text with none stored, so it cannot be searched; the search says how many pages had no text, and OCR PDF can add a text layer to them. A search highlights at most 500 matches, and a page with more than 20,000 pieces of text is searched and selectable only in its first part; the viewer says when either happens.

Does rotating here change the file?

No. Rotate view turns the pages on screen only, and the file you download is the one you opened. To save a rotation, use Rotate PDF.

How does printing work?

Print draws each page as an image at 150 dpi (a page wider or taller than 27.3 inches at a lower resolution, so its image stays within 4,096 pixels a side) and opens your browser's print dialog on them, so text prints a little less crisp than from a desktop PDF reader. One print sends at most 50 pages, and fewer when the pages are large; the viewer says before printing when a document is longer than that. Print always uses the pages as the file shows them, not a view-only turn.

Are links in the PDF safe to click?

A link to another page of the document scrolls there. A link to a web or e-mail address (http, https, mailto) opens in a new tab without passing on this page's address. Links of any other kind, such as a script, are not shown at all, and the viewer never runs JavaScript stored in a PDF.

Can I fill in a form or add notes here?

No, this viewer only shows the file: form fields appear as they are drawn in the PDF. To type into a form use Fill Forms, and to add highlights and notes use Annotate PDF.

Does PDF Viewer work offline?

Not fully. The page and its processing engine load over the network, and parts of the engine are fetched the first time a step needs them. The processing itself runs on your device. Rendering a page that holds a JPEG 2000 or JBIG2 image, as scanned documents often do, downloads an image decoder from our site the first time it is needed, and that step needs a connection. Chinese, Japanese or Korean text whose font is not embedded in the PDF needs a character map, downloaded from our site the first time it is needed, and that step needs a connection.

How large can my file be?

Up to 100 MB per file.