The 11 Best Free PDF Readers for Windows & Mac

Stacy is a professional technology educator with over 25 years' experience. She has published hundreds of articles, co-authored a book, and has appeared on national and local TV.

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A PDF reader is any software that will open a PDF file, probably the most recognizable document format in the world. Your downloadable bank statements, the newsletters from school—they're probably all in PDF format.

More and more operating systems, smartphones, and other devices contain built-in abilities to show PDF files; even your web browser can probably handle it. Even so, a dedicated document reader often has a number of advantages over the built-in reader you may already have, like viewing options, better search, and annotations or other light editing.

Need to edit a PDF, and not just open it for reading? You can convert it to an MS Word format or load it directly in a PDF editor. If you want to make one, use a PDF creation tool.

SumatraPDF

• Open source and lightweight.
• Available in dozens of languages.

• No anti-aliasing, so some fonts look wonky.
• Primary menu options are tucked inside another menu.

I've used SumatraPDF for years. It's an easy-to-use free PDF reader for Windows. While it is easy and simple to work with, it's also open for heavy customization if you so choose.

Different types of viewing modes are available, like Single Page, Facing, Book View, and Presentation. The latter option is great for distraction-free reading.

There are tons of keyboard shortcuts you can use that make it easier to move around a PDF file, which you can refer to in the online documentation.

SumatraPDF can be downloaded in portable form or installed like a regular program.

PDFlite is another free PDF reader that's based on SumatraPDF. It looks extremely similar and works the same.

MuPDF

• Supports XPS and CBZ files as well.
• Easy to use.

• Interface is a little too bare bones.
• Zoom feature is less than perfect.

I like MuPDF because it isn't cluttered, is super lightweight, and runs on Windows and Android. If you just need to read the PDF, and do nothing else, I highly recommend this app.

Immediately after opening the program, you'll be prompted to choose a PDF before you even see the UI. Once you have, there are literally no options to be seen, but instead the full program window is dedicated to showing the PDF.

There are, however, some hidden menus. Select the top left program icon on the program's title window, then select About MuPDF to see all the supported shortcut keys that you can use to flip through pages, zoom in, and search for text.

The other way to use this program is with an initial menu. Open mupdf-gl.exe from the same download to use that version.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

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• Handy drag-and-drop feature makes it easy to combine PDFs.
• Excellent integration with the Adobe Cloud system.

• Accessibility checker identifies problems, but it doesn't tell you how to fix them.
• The free version is very limited in its features.

Adobe, the creator of the PDF file format, has a free reader called Acrobat Reader.

Tons of features are included: Take snapshots of text and images, view the PDF in Read Mode for a more concise reading pane, and have the program read text out loud.

This program works with Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app is available for Android and iOS.

On the download page, you may be asked to install some McAfee products and other things that are unrelated to this PDF reader. You need to manually deselect these offers if you don't want them.

LightPDF

• Tabbed browsing.
• Slick, modern design.
• Includes a 'focus mode'.
• Lots of extra features.

• Extra features are limited unless you pay.

Unlike the other PDF readers in this list, you can use AI with this one to summarize the document or ask questions about it. If you're a rush, this can be a really handy way to get what you need from a long document in just a few seconds.

There are limitations to the AI part, though. Nevertheless, this program includes lots of other features you might like to have in addition to its regular open-and-read functionality. For example, it lets you edit text, add form items, and convert small PDFs to other file formats.

This program runs on Windows and macOS.

Expert PDF Reader

• Faster than other free options.
• Intuitive interface.

• Editing features are rather limited.
• Tries to install other software during set up.

Expert PDF Reader is another option for Windows. You can view bookmarks and a list of pages found in the PDF in an easy-to-read index on the side of the viewing area. There are also advanced options like signing and adding text to the PDF.

Nuance PDF Reader

• Adding videos and images to documents is a breeze.
• Dictation features make it ideal for the visually impaired.

• You can open only one PDF at a time.

A really valuable search function is included in Nuance PDF Reader, where the words you search for show up with a bit of context for easier understanding as to where the search terms are at in the text.

You can also highlight text, which I love to do when I'm using a PDF as a reference. I can see it being handy for studying, too.

Sorax Reader

• Fast and lightweight.
• Free from excess clutter.

• Limited zooming options.
• Doesn't come with help files.

Here, you'll find all the basic features of a PDF opener, like the ability to search through text, copy text out of the document, zoom, and change the viewing mode.

This program also lets you send the currently opened PDF to someone over email with the Email toolbar button.

Sorax is available for Windows.

Javelin PDF Reader

• Mobile version lets you access and manage metadata.
• Advanced encryption options.

• Occasional clunky performance.
• The installation process is unnecessarily complicated.

Javelin PDF Reader is ideal if you're after something minimal. It has no extra features like editing or converting that litters the program interface.

Everything is spotless and easy to read and understand. The search feature isn't the best to be had, but it works well as is.

It can launch a PDF in full screen to make reading easier, and you can just click the screen to move down the PDF pages.

This PDF program runs on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

Cool PDF Reader

• Can be used to convert to other formats (TXT, JPG, etc.).
• Command icons describe their function on mouse hover.

• Very limited features compared to the alternatives.
• The help file isn't very helpful.

Cool PDF Reader is light on system resources and comes in a minuscule package, at just under 4 MB for the portable version. It makes sense, then, that it calls itself "the world's smallest PDF viewer."

While it might not require much disk space, it's not the best option available. There isn't a search function, and scrolling isn't the smoothest. However, it still works as a free PDF reader if you don't like the others on this list.

You can install Cool PDF Reader to your computer or use the Standalone Package to use it without installing anything.

PDF-XChange Editor

• Premium version is reasonably priced for what you get.
• Adding and placing text is exceptionally easy.

• PDFs created with the free version often include a big ugly watermark.
• Doesn't automatically detect fields when creating forms.

PDF-XChange Editor's interface can be a bit nauseating to look at because there are buttons, toolbars, and side panels all over the place. You can easily disable most of these, though, for a much cleaner viewing experience.

In addition to opening a PDF from your own local computer, you can also enter a URL of a PDF file (the document will still be downloaded, but the program does it for you).

You can also add notes, record and attach audio, highlight text, attach files, and add a strike-through to words.

This is for Windows versions all the way back to Windows XP.

Lots of features are only available in the professional version of PDF-XChange Editor, but they're clearly marked as such and aren't difficult to spot.

Soda PDF

• Web and desktop version.
• Supports really long PDFs.
• Includes useful editing tools.

• Some features cost.

This is both an offline PDF reader, like the other ones detailed above, and an online PDF reader. The web app is indispensable if you need to read a document ASAP.

While it's true that most web browsers can open PDFs on their own, without a tool like this one, I include it anyway because it has some really nice mini tools you might like.

For example, if you want to delete a page or two while reading the PDF, you can do that here. I also like that it's super easy to email the document, compress it to make the file smaller, and merge it with another PDF.

Overall, while this might seem more like a PDF editor, it does a great job displaying the document in your browser, something you'll prefer if you need access now, without wasting the time it takes to download one of these other desktop tools.

Since it runs online, it also means you can use it on any operating system.