PDF Viewer
Open a PDF straight in your browser and read it like in a desktop app: continuous scrolling, full-text search, page thumbnails, bookmarks, dark mode and fullscreen. You can also attach sticky notes, place a hand-drawn signature and download the updated file. Everything runs locally on pdf.js – the document never leaves your device, and there is no account or install.
100% in your browser. Your file never leaves your device.
Features
- Continuous scrolling with lazy rendering keeps even long documents fast and memory-friendly.
- Full-text search with highlighted matches, a match counter and next/previous navigation.
- Page thumbnails and a bookmark outline in the sidebar for quick jumps.
- Create, edit and move sticky notes, written into the file as real PDF annotations.
- Draw a signature once, place it on any page, then drag and resize it.
- Dark mode, fullscreen, rotation, zoom from 25 to 500 percent and keyboard shortcuts.
About this tool
The viewer is built on pdf.js, the open-source engine Firefox uses to display PDFs. Each page is drawn onto a canvas at your screen's resolution, with an invisible text layer on top for selecting and copying text. Pages render lazily as you scroll, and canvases far outside the viewport are dropped again – memory use stays flat even with hundreds of pages.
Existing annotations such as highlights or drawings are painted by pdf.js directly onto the page. Sticky notes are editable: read, change, move, delete and create them. When you click Download, the tool loads pdf-lib, writes your notes into the file as standards-compliant PDF annotations and embeds placed signatures as images – the result is a normal PDF any reader understands.
Your file is loaded as a byte array into the browser's memory and never sent over the network – no upload, no queue, no copy on a server. Only two things end up in the browser's local storage: your light/dark theme choice and signatures you save for reuse. Close the tab and the document is gone.
How to view a PDF online
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Open a PDF
Drag your PDF onto the drop area or click "Choose file". The document opens right away in the viewer; for larger files a brief loading indicator appears while pdf.js parses the pages.
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Navigate and read
Scroll continuously, jump via the page thumbnails or the bookmark outline in the sidebar, or type a page number into the toolbar. Zoom with the buttons, Ctrl+scroll or a pinch gesture, and switch between fit-width and fit-page.
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Search the text
Type a term into the search field. All matches are highlighted and counted; jump between them with Enter, Shift+Enter or the arrow buttons. Search only works if the PDF contains real text.
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Add notes or a signature
With "Add note" you click anywhere on a page to leave a comment. Via the signature button you draw a signature or pick a saved one, place it with a click and adjust position and size.
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Print or download
When printing you choose between standard paper and the exact PDF page size without white borders. Download saves the file – with all notes and signatures permanently embedded – to your device.
Typical use cases
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Sign a contract on the go
Your landlord sends the rental agreement as a PDF and wants it back signed today. Open the file on your phone, read it page by page, draw your signature once, drop it onto the signature line and download the finished PDF – no app install, no printing and scanning.
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Work through long reports
You need a single figure from a 300-page annual report. Open it, search for the keyword, hop through the highlighted matches and copy the value straight from the text layer. Thumbnails and the outline get you to the right chapter fast, and dark mode is easier on the eyes at night.
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Comment on a draft
A colleague asks for feedback on a thesis or proposal. Pin sticky notes exactly where something should change, move or reword them as you go, then download the annotated copy. The notes are standard PDF annotations, so they also show up in Acrobat and other readers on the recipient's side.
Tips & limitations
- Learn the keyboard shortcuts: arrow keys turn pages, plus and minus zoom, 0 resets to fit-width, F toggles fullscreen, S opens the sidebar and / jumps into the search field.
- Search and text selection need embedded text. Scanned PDFs are just images – search finds nothing there. Run the file through the OCR tool first.
- Password-protected PDFs cannot be opened here, and rotating only changes the view – the rotation is not written into the file when you download.
- For a borderless copy, pick the exact-PDF-page-size option in the print dialog and then "Save as PDF"; for a physical printer, standard paper is the safe choice.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded to a server?
No. The file is loaded into your browser's memory and rendered there by pdf.js. There is no upload, no server-side processing and no stored copy – you can confirm in your browser's network tab that no document data is transferred while you view the file.
Can I open password-protected PDFs?
No. The viewer has no password prompt; encrypted files that require a password to open fail with an error message. Remove the protection first with a tool that can decrypt PDFs, then open the unlocked copy here.
Will other PDF readers see my notes?
Yes. On download, notes are written into the file as standards-compliant PDF text annotations, not as a proprietary layer. Acrobat Reader, macOS Preview and most other programs display them and can edit them further.
Is the placed signature a digital signature?
No. The tool embeds an image of your drawn signature into the page – a simple electronic signature. It is not a certificate-based digital signature with cryptographic proof of identity and integrity. Whether that is sufficient depends on the document and the legal context.
Why does search find nothing in my document?
Most likely the PDF is a scan: the pages are images without an embedded text layer, and the viewer only searches real text. Let the OCR tool run text recognition over it, then search the result.
How do I print without white borders?
Click Print and choose the option with the exact PDF page size. The print job then gets the document's precise dimensions – ideal combined with "Save as PDF". Physical printers usually need standard paper, where narrow borders can remain.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no fixed limit, but the entire file sits in your device's memory. Thanks to lazy rendering, documents with hundreds of pages run smoothly on most hardware; very large files can get sluggish on older phones with little RAM.
Want it on the go? Get the app.
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