It’s been more than 25 years that PDF files have been around, and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. As PDFs are the most popular format for presentations and document sharing, they are heavily used in schools and offices. No wonder PDF readers are the most commonly used applications and part of every desktop and laptop.
If you are a student, busiSupposess professional, or just somebody who needs to interact with PDFs frequently, you can take advantage o. In that case, all these features by using a quality PDF reader. The rise in the popularity of the PDF format has led to an increase in demand for PDF readers.
Today, we are going to discuss the best free PDF readers for Windows and macOS.
12 Best Free Pdf Readers for Mac and Windows
Today there are many PDF readers for both Mac and Windows. Some of them are free, while others require a subscription. The features they offer are also very different. So it can be confusing to decide which one you should use.
Here, we have compiled a list of the best free PDF readers that offer all the features you need and more. To help you choose the best PDF reader, we have listed them in two sections. The first section contains the best free PDF readers for Macs. The second section contains the best free PDFincludes for Windows.
Note that many of the PDF readers listed work on both platforms, but their features may vary slightly. Finally, you’ll find my personal favorite PDF reader at the end. Without further ado, let us get started with the list!
6 Best Free PDF Readers for Mac
These are the best free pdf readers for macOS.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- PDF Reader Premium
- Apple Preview
- Skim PDF
- Soda PDF
- Kdan PDF Reader
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Not surprisingly, Adobe Acrobat Reader is our first choice for Mac and Windows because it’s free, widely compatible with other software, and offers all the features you want in a PDF reader. Not only is it great for reading PDFs, but it’s also extremely powerful when it comes to editing, printing, and commenting on PDFs.
With this free software, you can not only open and view PDFs but also edit them, sign them, fill out forms, protect them and highlight important information. Adobe Reader is indispensable for anyone who needs to work with PDFs on a regular basis.
PDF Reader Premium
If you work with PDFs frequently for your job, consider downloading PDF Reader Premium. With over 50 million downloads, it is one of the most widely used PDF readers for Apple devices.
It lets you view your PDFs in multiple tabs at once, add image-based annotations and sticky notes to them, organize files using tags, add signatures to form fields within saved PDFs, and transfer PDFs via various cloud services.
It’s a good choice for anyone who wants to do more with their PDFs than just read them.
Apple Preview
If you’re looking for a simple PDF reader that comes pre-installed on every Mac, then you should use Preview. While it doesn’t offer as many features as some of the other PDF readers on this list, it’s still a good choice for quickly viewing or printing PDFs.
Preview lets you open PDFs, view multiple pages at once, fill out forms, and add annotations. You can also reduce the file size of a PDF, split it into multiple PDFs, or combine multiple PDFs into one.
It’s a good choice for those who don’t need advanced features and just want a program to open quickly.
Related: How to Combine PDFs on Mac using Preview or Third-party PDF Utilities
Skim PDF
Skim is a free and open-source PDF editor that allows you to read not only scientific articles in PDF format but also eBooks. Its most useful features include full-screen mode, the ability to export notes as text, compatibility with Spotlight for searching text directly from the program, and the ability to add and update notes. Skim also allows displaying highlights and using built-in transitions when viewing a PDF file.
The program was originally developed for academic use, so it’s a good choice if you need to read and annotate scientific papers. However, its features make it useful for anyone who needs to read PDFs.
Soda PDF
Soda PDF is a great program for viewing detailed documents like online comics, magazines, and catalogs. You can even edit and create new PDFs from scratch!
Soda PDF is a great way to manage your PDFs on the Mac. With the built-in software, you can easily convert files and add freehand writing, text boxes, sticky notes, hyperlinks, and annotations.
By providing free PDF tools on its websites, such as converters, splitters, and compressors, as well as document signers and security features, Soda PDF creates not only demand for its online PDF platform but also sales. If you want to free up some space on your computer’s hard drive, you can use these online tools instead of a downloadable PDF reader.
Kdan PDF Reader
It is a versatile PDF management tool that allows you to view, edit, convert and annotate PDF files. It can be downloaded directly from the Mac App Store. Kdan PDF Reader is one of the most powerful and popular PDF management tools for Apple computers.
The software facilitates PDF editing by adding freehand writing, text boxes, sticky notes, hyperlinks, and annotations. You can tag and color code important documents so they do not get mixed up. And with the Import History feature, you can keep track of all your saved files.
Kdan PDF Reader is a good choice for anyone who wants to do more with their PDFs than just read them.
6 Best Free PDF Readers for Windows
These are the best free pdf readers for windows.
- Nitro PDF Reader
- PDF-XChange Editor
- Foxit PDF
- MuPDF
- SumatraPDF
- Slim PDF
Nitro Reader
Nitro Reader is a widely used productivity and office software program. We prefer this free PDF document reader because it offers a perfect balance between ease of use and features rather than being cluttered with unused add-ons. Besides, its sleek interface looks like other Microsoft Office applications.
Nitro Reader is not like other PDF readers. Not only does it have all the basic features, but it also has QuickSign – a feature that makes digitally signing documents as quick and easy as can be. Moreover, you have the option to secure your documents so that they can only be opened by those who have received a digital certificate from you. Thus, if you are looking for a PDF reader for Windows that is effective and has an attractive UI, choose Nitro Reader.
PDF-XChange Editor
PDF-XChange Editor is a PDF reader for Windows 10 that has been redesigned and shortened. It opens quickly and provides a basic experience for tasks like reading, printing, annotating, and saving images as text from a PDF file.
Before this software was named PDF-XChange Viewer, the only editing feature available for free was very basic. You also get features like OCR and digital signature with this program. Although it has many useful features, some people might feel that the UI is too cluttered because there are so many options. Maybe a redesign in the future could solve this problem.
The free version of PDF-XChange Editor provides over 60% of the features available in the paid version.
Foxit PDF
Foxit Reader is not only a PDF reader, but you can also create, edit and annotate PDF files. It’s also compatible with multiple platforms and has plugins for Microsoft Office products. Thus, it is an incredibly versatile tool that anyone who frequently deals with PDFs should have at hand.
This program is a collection of tools that will let you create, verify, sign, modify and print PDF files. It is free to use, but the premium version offers you some additional benefits. The free version covers all the essentials unless you need special functions.
MuPDF
MuPDF is a free and open-source software framework written in C that implements a PDF, XPS, and EPUB parsing and rendering engine. It is mainly used to render pages in bitmaps but can also be used for other functions such as search, table of contents listing, and hyperlinks.
It is a standalone program and does not require any external dependencies such as a web browser or PDF reader. It also lets you convert PDF files to other formats, such as HTML, SVG, and CBZ.
SumatraPDF
Sumatra PDF is a good choice for reading PDFs if you don’t need advanced features like annotations, document signatures, and form filling. Sumatra offers numerous viewing modes, such as single page, book mode, presentation mode, and keyboard shortcuts that make navigating any PDF file easy.
You can use it to read multiple file formats such as PDF, CHM, DjVu, XPS, ePub, MOBI, CBZ, and CBR. Sumatra also offers a plugin for Firefox that lets you open PDFs directly in the browser.
Slim PDF
Slim PDF is one of the smallest PDF readers available, taking up only 15 MB of space on your PC. Despite its small size, this free PDF reader has many advanced features, such as printing, searching, zooming, and rotating PDF files.
For PC users, this PDF reader is easy to use and has been recently updated with a dark mode option and a new design UI. With this free software, you can focus only on reading, viewing, and printing your PDF files.
Despite its size and lack of features, it loads quickly and doesn’t take up much space on your computer. Besides, it lacks common keyboard shortcuts, so you’ll have to get used to navigating if you switch from another PDF reader.
Microsoft Edge Browser – the Default PDF Reader
If you have Windows 10 or higher, then you already have Microsoft Edge as your default browser and default PDF reader. In our opinion, it is a powerful software because it includes both a browser and a PDF reader. It opens PDF files really fast and without delay.
The website UI is also very clear and user-friendly. I have been using it for a long time and I am very satisfied with it. Although it does not offer extensive features, it is still able to handle all your PDF needs, such as reading, printing, and signing. It is an easy-to-use PDF reader that comes pre-installed with important features like searching documents, zooming, and bookmarking.
One of the best things about Microsoft Edge is that it can open PDFs in separate tabs, so you can easily switch between them while working on other tabs. Microsoft Edge is our personal favorite PDF reader, and we would recommend it to anyone.
Did This Help You Find Your Best Free PDF Reader?
We looked at 12 different PDF readers that are available for free. They all have their own unique features, but my personal favorite is the Microsoft Edge browser. It comes pre-installed on Windows 10 and has a clean and user-friendly UI.
If you are looking for advanced features, you should use Nitro Reader or PDF XChange Editor. However, if you are just looking for a simple PDF reader that is lightweight and fast, then Slim PDF or Sumatra PDF are good choices.
Do you have a favorite PDF reader that is not on this list? Let us know in the comments below.
FAQs About Best Free PDF Reader
Downloading a PDF reader is the first step to reading PDF files with Windows 10. Microsoft Edge, the default program, can open PDFs but offers only a few features. A reader designed specifically for viewing PDFs is the best option. You can obtain many PDF readers online for free, including Adobe Acrobat.
The Office 365 component Microsoft Word is a PDF editor that you can use to edit PDF files. You don't need to buy or set up any other extensions. In Office 365, Word acts as a PDF editor that you can use to edit PDF files.
Adobe Reader is the most popular PDF reader, but many users find it sluggish. An alternative is Foxit Reader, which is faster and offers more features. However, there are many other PDF readers out there, and which one is best for you depends on your specific needs. Try a few different ones to see which one you prefer.
Foxit's annual plans are cheaper than Adobe's. For example, Foxit PhantomPDF (or Foxit PDF Reader) annual plan costs $79.99, while Adobe Acrobat Pro is available for $179.88 and Adobe Acrobat Standard for $159.99 per year.
Adobe Reader offers more features than Foxit, such as the ability to annotate PDF files and fill out PDF forms. However, Foxit is a lighter program that could be faster and easier to use. For users who only need basic PDF viewing capabilities, Foxit might be the less expensive choice.
There are several free alternatives to Adobe Reader. And the best Adobe Reader alternative is SumatraPDF which is both free and open source. Other popular free alternatives to Adobe Reader include Foxit Reader, SlimPDF, MuPDF and more.
Yes, the Foxit PDF reader is free to obtain and use, but some of the features are locked behind the paywall, making it a freemium service. But most of the basic PDF reading features are free to use, making it one of the popular alternatives to Adobe Reader.
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PDFs and the iPad were made for each other, yet Apple's own built-in PDF readers are limited. Here's what you need to make reading — and editing — PDFs a breeze.
If someone emails you a PDF and you just need to read it, rather than do any editing, then just tap on it. What you immediately get is that PDF document opened up full screen, with the first page in front of you, and icons for all pages arranged in a column to the left.
Tap on any page and as well as jumping to that in the document, you get an ellipses icon with extra controls. From there, you can:
- Copy the page
- Rotate it left or tight (clockwise or counterclockwise)
- Insert a blank page
- Add another PDF into the first one
- Scan new pages into the document
Each of these options concerns a specific page of a PDF — whether rotating it, or adding in new pages following it. There is, though, also a separate markup tool that gives options to be used across the whole document.
Tapping on the markup tool brings up a toolbar that is very similar to the one in Apple's forthcoming Freeform app. It has tools for scribbling as if with a pencil, pen, felt-tip pen or marker.
Apple's default PDF reader includes many common editing tools
Apple's built-in PDF viewer on the iPad now even lets you add text to the document. It's meant for adding annotations, there's no ability to edit or replace existing text.
Nor is there an option for changing the font of the text you add. However, once this text icon is selected, there is also a large icon with a plus sign, which lets you add a new text form box, or a prepared signature.
Moving on from Apple's default PDF reader
If this all sounds like you needn't go any further and can just stay with Apple's free solution, you can. In practice, reading a long PDF document seems a little cumbersome — it's oddly easy to jump on to a different page as you read.
There is also the fact that this particular built-in reader is that it's meant for convenient reading right now, not for saving to read later. It's like the iPad equivalent of Quick Look on the Mac.
If you make markup changes or insert pages, then when you tap the Done button, you do get the option to save the document to Files.
Curiously, these "Done" options don't include an obvious other choice you might want to make, and which is available until you tap that button. Instead of tapping Done, you can tap either a general-purpose Share icon, or Open in Books.
Using Apple Books as a PDF reader
Add PDFs to Apple Books and prepare to see your neatly organized library disrupted by documents with no covers. Add a couple of them and you'll see their white US Letter-shaped cover images right next to rows of full-color covers of ebooks.
There is a filter that lets you see all PDFs, or all books. And you can tap on a PDF in Apple Books to read it just as you would any other title.
A PDF will by default open with solely the document itself, no other controls or options. Tap anywhere on it, though, and now you get many of the same tools that the built-in Quick Look-like feature had.
There's the thumbnail view of pages that you mean you can leap to any you want, although here it's a horizontal row of icons instead of a vertical one.
Oddly, the markup features in Apple Books are slightly more cumbersome. To add text, you have to call up the Markup toolbar, then tap a plus sign, then choose Text or Add Signature.
But you can also highlight something already on the PDF, then tap and choose Highlight. And once you've done that, you can now tap on the highlighted part of the PDF, and this time the pop-up menu includes an option to Add Note.
Adobe Acrobat includes editing controls, though those with a blue mark are only in the paid version
Third-party PDF apps are better
It's very much as if Apple's Books app has had PDF support bolted on. And the benefit of Quick View-like preview is that it is very fast and convenient for taking a look at a PDF.
Third-party apps all offer the same functions as Apple, but all of them go much further. They turn PDFs from something you passive read, into something you actively rely on in research.
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe invented the Portable Document Format and so its own PDF editor has to be one of the best. It also used to be by far the most expensive, though today it is offered initially as a free download.
It's a capable app even in its free version, too, offering annotations, signatures, and also fill-in forms that you can add to a PDF you're creating. Adobe Acrobat, in this form, is intended to be a simple option to use, but also a quite powerful one.
Since 2020, it's included an option Adobe calls Liquid Mode. Tap a button to turn this on and a PDF you're reading is subtly altered, displaying less like a series of separate pages, and more like a continuous website.
Where Adobe Acrobat gets complicated is in when you want to do more detailed editing work. That complexity is not because the tools are hard to use, though, it's all down to how you pick from the 10 different in-app options and subscriptions.
If you're an extensive user of Adobe's apps, though, you'll find Acrobat is included in many of the company's Creative Cloud subscriptions. That includes the $54.99/month option that features all Adobe apps.
LiquidText lets you pull out excerpts and arrange or link them as you need
LiquidText
It's surely a coincidence that Adobe has only now named a PDF feature "Liquid Mode," when the alternative LiquidText has been around for many years. Adobe's feature is nothing like the LiquidText PDF reader — but then, nothing is.
LiquidText is overkill if you just want to read some PDFs, and it's not actually that good if you want to correct a typo in one. Where it shines like the sun is in how it lets you rip apart a PDF to review and study it.
Circle some text with the Apple Pencil, or just select with your finger, and LiquidText pulls that section out to the side. Drag these "excerpts" around the side of the document, and you can connect them together.
LiquidText also lets you squeeze a PDF down, and for once that isn't a term meaning to reduce the file size. Pinch at the top and bottom of a paragraph, and you can squeeze the lines together.
It's so you can concentrate on the major parts of a document that you want, and see those elements closer to one another.
These features are all in the free download version of the app, though it too then offers ten different in-app purchases. Those paid versions get you more features such as being able to review multiple PDFs at the same time, and they start from $9.99.
LiquidText lets you squeeze down text to concentrate on what you need.
PDF Expert
Somewhere between the regular Adobe Acrobat and the deliciously mad scientist approach of LiquidText, comes a slew of apps including PDF Expert.
They don't have the squeezing text or the excerpts, and they do have all of the features of regular apps. What they specialize in is making it quick and easy to do quite startling edits to a PDF.
If you've made a typo on one page of a 1,000-page Affinity Publisher document to PDF, still your best option is to fix it and produce the PDF again. When you can't, though, PDF Expert will let you go in to that PDF and make the change right there.
Fix a typo, change a name, alter the terms of a contract - you can do it all in PDF editors. Pictured: PDF Expert
You can literally rewrite the text in a PDF using apps like this.
PDF Expert is another free to download app, with multiple in-app purchases starting at $9.99.
PDF isn't going away
Back in the '90s, PDF was originally a nod to people who were reliant on, and familiar with, paper documents but had to embrace digital distribution. In theory we should surely by now have moved on to fully online web documents and digitally signed forms.
Yet the PDF is more than familiar, it's a way of presenting a lot of information in a form where the creator controls the look of it. Far from being a passive substitute for a printer, PDF is now a form of its own.
There is the bad side, though, that people tend to regard PDFs as they did paper documents and assume that they are fixed. As you now know, a PDF editing app can make invisible alterations within a PDF without ever going back to the source document.
Which is brilliant when you're the one who needs to fix a typo at the last moment. It's rather not brilliant if you're the one signing a contract and you don't know this file is different to the last one.
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The best free PDF editors allow you to quickly make changes to a Portable Document Format (PDF) file without spending a thing. While you won’t get all of the sophisticated features that come with a paid PDF editor, a free PDF editor should be more than enough to create PDFs and make simple edits to them.
The best free PDF editors provide basic editing and document-creation abilities but sometimes, they toss in a few surprising extras. Many free PDF editors allow you to annotate PDFs and some can even recognize scanned text - all at no extra cost.
At Tom’s Guide, we’ve tried and used half-a-dozen free PDF editors and compared them to their paid counterparts. These are the best free PDF editors you can get today if all you’re looking to do is to make a few simple edits to a PDF file.
The best free PDF editors you can use
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
PDF Candy may be one of the more compelling free PDF editors, mostly because it offers an OCR option not available in other free PDF editors.
While you can't edit the OCR'd text directly within PDF Candy's web-based PDF editor, you can upload a PDF file and have PDF Candy extract text and create a text document, RTF file, or Word document in both .doc and .docx formats.
PDF Candy's tool set is formidable. You can use 44 tools to create or convert PDF files. Additionally, you'll find tools for rearranging pages within a document, adding watermarks, protecting PDF files with passcodes, editing metadata within a PDF file, splitting or adding pages to documents, and extracting images.
All these tasks are as simple as selecting the tool, uploading a document and allowing PDF Candy to work its magic.
When you finish one task on a document, you'll get a list of other tools you can use for different tasks. Once your changes are complete, you can obtain the edited document or upload a new document to work on. PDF Candy keeps all of your documents in a queue so you can obtain them all at once after you've finished making changes to them.
While the actual text-editing tools in PDF Candy are as limited as on every other free PDF-editing app, everything else PDF Candy has to offer puts it head and shoulders above the other free options.
PDFescape is an excellent option for online PDF editing. Simple to use and available to anyone with a web browser, PDFescape may be all you need to edit and annotate PDF files.
Previously, PDFescape had a limit of either a 10MB or 50-page PDF file. That 10MB file-size limit remains in place, but you can now edit files of up to 100 pages for free.
PDFescape offers ample annotation tools. You can use the app to fill out forms, create form fields, insert text and web links, highlight text, add sticky notes, redact or strike out text, crop and rotate images, add or remove pages and even lock and encrypt PDF documents.
You'll have to contend with severely limited font options, however. PDFescape offers five fonts, one of which is a generic "signature" font that looks nothing like your own signature. But otherwise, you'll find a lot more tools in PDFescape than you will in the typical, bare-bones free PDF editor.
Apple's Preview application is built into every version of macOS, including macOS BIg Sur. Not only is it capable of working with PDF files, but it also offers a number of other image-editing features. It is the multitool of the image-editing universe, capable of opening virtually any image file you may encounter.
The bulk of Preview's markup capabilities aren't obvious when you first open the app, although you'll find a few basic tools for rotating pages and highlighting text on the basic toolbar.
Preview's full set of markup tools appears when you click a small markup button that looks like a pencil tip located next to the search tool in the Preview toolbar.
Those markup tools include text-selection options; drawing tools you can use to add freehand drawings to a document; a text tool for adding additional text to a document; a tool that adds shapes and notes; and a signature tool that you can use to capture your signature using your Mac's camera, a tablet or your trackpad.
Preview is a solid option for basic PDF editing, and if you own a Mac, accessing Preview's powers is as simple as launching the app.
FormSwift offers a slightly different twist on PDF editing. While it gives you the option to upload and edit PDF files, it also offers a large library of legal and other business forms you can fill in online and obtain as a PDF file or Word document.
I found FormSwift's offerings to be excellent and well worth a look if you need basic business documents such as 1099s, lease agreements and business meeting minutes.
All of these forms can be filled out online and downloaded once you've added the pertinent information. Or you can obtain blank versions of the documents and enter information locally on your computer.
For PDF editing, the process is simple. Drag a file to your browser — there's a 10MB max size — then use FormSwift's tools to add new text and images; highlight, redact or erase existing text; and sign documents.
FormSwift's text tools are limited. You have four fonts to choose from, but you can resize those fonts to almost any level you want, and you can also make changes to text colors and styles. You can add a new text field to your document, enter new text and adjust the text, placing it anywhere you want on the document.
But there is no way to make changes to existing text, other than by redacting it. All the other tools work as expected, including a signature tool that lets you sign a document using the keyboard, your mouse or an uploaded image.
Smallpdf's free online PDF editing offering is super-basic, only making it possible to add minor changes to documents.
But you may find Smallpdf's other free features more compelling. These include tools for converting PDF files to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and JPEG. You can also convert each of those file types to PDF.
Basic as it may be, Smallpdf can add pages to or compress existing PDF documents. Additionally, there are tools for adding signatures to documents that are similar to those available with Apple's Preview application on a Mac.
All of this is available with no file-size limitations, but Smallpdf lets you process only two documents per day. If you want to do more, you'll have to upgrade to the Pro plan, which gives you Smallpdf desktop applications as well as unlimited processing.
As with all online PDF editors, you begin using Smallpdf by dragging the file you want to work with directly to your browser window.
For editing PDFs, you have four options to work with: Add Text, Add Image, Add Shape and Draw. You'll note that there are no options to add notes or comments, and no way to highlight existing text. If you need to add annotations or otherwise mark up a PDF document, you should look elsewhere.
Even if the four options offered seem to be enough for you, you'll still feel constrained within each of those tools. Add text, and you have only five size options and no font choices (although you can select serif, sans serif and monotype styles for your single font choice). You're also limited to seven font colors.
While Smallpdf may lack anything beyond the basics for editing PDF files, it's much more appealing for adding electronic signatures, converting or compressing files and merging documents.
How to choose the best free PDF editor for you
Picking the best free PDF editor is a lot like choosing a paid version of a document editor as you first need to identify exactly what you want to do with PDF files and go for the program that offers the features needed to accomplish your goals.
This can be as simple as deciding whether you need a PDF editor that can handle document creation and design or whether you just want a program that allows you to leave comments and suggestions on a PDF.
As this is free software, you should pay attention to any limitations that are imposed on the free tier. Are there restrictions on the size of the documents you can edit or are certain tools locked behind a paywall. If you need access to these tools, then it may be worth paying for those particular features.
If you’re doing your PDF editing on a computer, first check to see if you have built-in software that can handle the job. For instance, Mac users might not realize just how good Preview is at annotating documents and adding signatures to PDFs. You can save a lot of time searching for the best free PDF editor if you already have access to all of the features you need.
How we test free PDF editors
When testing free PDF editors, we used the same process as when we test paid PDF editors. However, we make note of the limitations that can come with free software. We also considered both general PDF editors as well as applications specifically designed for annotations.
When looking at free PDF editors, we used a few different types of documents that comply with file-size restrictions. These included text-heavy files, documents with a mix of formatted images and text and simple documents with text and images inserted in a linear fashion.
While free apps often don’t include features like text recognition, we did test this feature when it was available. We also tried making changes to text, replacing and adding images and adding notations to each product we tested.
For more on our testing procedures, check out this guide on how Tom’s Guide tests, reviews and rates products.
Though it’s nearly 25 years old, the PDF may be more useful than ever in our increasingly multi-device, cross-platform world. Most of the time you can get by with a free PDF reader to review and comment on these files. But inevitably, particularly in a business setting, you’ll need to edit a PDF file and that usually requires upgrading to a premium PDF editor.
Historically, Adobe Acrobat has been the go-to option, but it has also been the most expensive, putting it out of reach for many individuals and small businesses. That has given rise to a whole host of alternatives with varying features and costs. We looked at several top PDF editors to see the features they offer and how they stack up against each other.
We even have a pick for best free PDF editor, because sometimes you just need the basics to help complete the job quickly. There are a surprising number of capable free services to choose from along with the more premium editors. Check out our recommendations below to see our takes on the best available options.
1. Adobe Acrobat Pro DC – Best overall
Pros
- Easily navigable tabbed interface
- Comprehensive PDF edting features
- Streamlined sharing feature makes it easier to fill documents and get signatures
Cons
- Rich feature set can be overwhelming for new users
Adobe Acrobat Pro DC remains the industry standard for good reason. Its rich combination of creation, editing, reviewing, and security features are what the best alternative options are built on, but we feel Acrobat still does it best. Its accurate interface redesign makes it much easier to navigate its robust toolset than the nested menus of yore, and its cloud subscription option puts its advanced features within reach of more individuals and small businesses. See how it compares to the Adobe Acrobat Standard DC.)
Though many of its features are available in other, cheaper PDF editors, Acrobat is still the editor against which all others are judged.
2. Nitro PDF Pro – Best overall runner-up
Pros
- Microsoft Office ribbon-style interface
- Fully integrated with Nitro Cloud for easier collaboration
- Improved document conversion
Nitro PDF Pro’s now full-integration with Nitro Cloud—as part of Nitro Productivity Suite—makes collaborating on documents and securing signatures easier than ever. The ability to perform common editing tasks right in a browser rather than having to toggle over to the desktop program makes document workflows feel simpler and more seamless.
As far as alternatives to Adobe Acrobat go, Nitro PDF Pro sits near the top of the heap. Its accurate upgrades have continued to help it narrow the gap at the top. If you’re looking for an Acrobat replacement, you won’t find many better.
3. Swifdoo – Best budget option
Pros
- Intuitive tabbed interface
- Comprehensive PDF editing features
- Affordable
Cons
- Windows only
- No mobile app
MSRP: $69 per year I $8 per month
Swifdoo might not have the name recognition of some of the other editors on this list, but it’s more than capable of holding its own in the crowded PDF editor market. Swifdoo provides all of the essential tools for managing PDF files without any of the fancy or hard-to-understand features. It allows users to jump right in to their toolset and get straight to editing with only what they need.
While Swifdoo’s features are great, they are also pretty standard fare among PDF editors. What makes Swifdoo stand out is its affordable price—it’s a great value for those who regularly edit PDFs and don’t want to pay out the nose. Swifdoo also offers a generous trial period so users can take it for a spin to see if it meets their needs before they commit to paying any money.
4. PDF Candy – Best free option
Pros
- Many advanced features
- OCR capability
- Very easy to use
Cons
- No Mac support
- Free trial only offers basic features
PDF Candy is the rare free PDF editor that offers a lot of the features you’d typically have to pay for. We’re talking scanning, multiple file-conversion options, and OCR functionality. All of this combines to make PDF Candy stand out among the multitude of lesser free PDF editors. It does have a bit of a wonky interface, but once you get the hang of it you’re off and running.
Unfortunately, while the free version has access to the expansive toolset of the paid version, you’re limited to one PDF task per hour. If you want unfettered access, you need to shell out $6 per month.
5. PDF Expert – Best full-featured editor for Apple devices
Pros
- Syncs across Mac, iPhone, and iPad
- Comprehensive editing and annotation tools
- Simple, intuitive interface
Cons
- Requires annual payment
- Lifetime license enables use on Mac only
PDF Expert is an excellent editor that fits seamlessly into the Apple ecosystem, making it our pick for Macs, iPads, and iPhone users.
While macOS does include a PDF editor in its Preview app, iOS devices don’t have a native PDF editor and PDF Expert fills that gap nicely. It has a clean and intuitive interface and offers a plethora of easy-to-use editing options such as page management, converting scanned files into editable documents, and conversion to other file formats, among other things. The pricing plan is also considerably cheaper than most of the other top picks, meaning this is a no-brainer for Apple users.
6. Apple Preview PDF editor – Best free option for Mac users
Pros
- Full set of PDF markup tools
- Supports form filling
- PDFs can be protected with passwords, encryption, and permission controls
Cons
- Limited native sharing options
- Only available to Mac users
MSRP: Built into macOS
Mac users needn’t look beyond the macOS for their PDF editing needs, since there is a full set of PDF markup tools already available at their disposal in Apple Preview. It has the chops to handle most personal and business PDF editing needs, including encryption, password protection, and permissions for files.
Apple Preview’s PDF features and capabilities are impressive and should be all you need for most common editing tasks. The drawback, of course, is that only Mac users can take advantage of them.
7. pdfFiller – Best web-based editor
Pros
- Intuitive web-based interface
- Robust security options
- Lots of business-ready capabilities
Cons
- Business features won’t be needed by some users
- Requires annual commitment to get best value
MSRP: $20 a month/$96 a year
pdfFiller is a browser-based PDF editor that allows you do to just about everything—editing, securing, sharing, and storing PDF files—all from its intuitive and simple web interface. It has a surprisingly deep set of features for both personal and business use.
While incredibly versatile, not all of pdfFiller’s business features will suit everyone. Fortunately, there are three subscription tiers which gives users a way to meet their editing needs without paying extra for unnecessary features.
A word about online PDF editors
Why spend a chunk of change on a desktop editor when free online PDF editors abound? The simple answer is because you get what you pay for. Generally, free online editors will let you add text and comments, merge and split documents, and convert files to and from PDF. With rare exception, however, they won’t let you edit existing text and many have file-size and page-volume restrictions. And a lot of them will watermark your edited document. For these reasons, web PDF editors are best reserved for simple, fast editing jobs. Call in these big dogs for anything more demanding.
What to look for in a PDF editor
- Create, convert, and export PDFs: The most fundamental function of a PDF editor is to make PDFs, either from scratch, scanned hard copies, or by converting digital documents. A good PDF editor should be able to transform a variety of file types—from Microsoft Office formats to images to HTML—and do so seamlessly, preserving the original formatting. It should also include OCR technology to make the PDF text searchable and editable. Likewise, a good PDF editor must be able to export PDFs into other editable formats such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, HTML, or plain text, maintaining the original files hyperlinks, images, and other elements.
- Content editing: Another bit of magic that PDF editors unlock is the ability to modify text; insert, resize, and move images; and reorganize pages in the PDF. A good one will perform these tasks as easily as in a text document or slide deck, allowing in-line editing, dragging-and dropping graphics, and adding or removing hyperlinks.
- Review and annotate: A good PDF editor should also let you or anyone else using it add comments and other annotations to PDF files during review. It should have tools to mark up both text documents and graphic-heavy files like webpages. Common options include sticky notes, callout boxes, highlighting, freehand drawing tools, and stamps with messages like “approved,” “revised,” and “confidential.”
- Security: All businesses deal with documents containing sensitive data. Look for a PDF editor that includes security features that allow access for authorized eyes only. Good options will usually offer several levels of security, including password protection, permissions setting, and content redaction, which “blacks out” selected text and images. Most PDF editors will also offer one or more ways to electronically sign documents.
- Mobile support: While deep PDF editing is best done on a desktop, it’s nice to be able to review and annotate files when you’re out and about. While PDFs can typically be reviewed in any PDF reader or editor, regardless of which one they were created in, consider looking for an editor that has a dedicated mobile app, is optimized for mobile devices, or allows cloud access to features through a mobile browser.
One of the great things about a PDF is that it can be read and edited in any PDF program regardless of which one it was created in. So beyond the features outlined here, let your personal preferences guide you in making your decision.
FAQ
What is the difference between a PDF document and a PDF form?
While there are a number of different types of PDF file formats, they all fall under the umbrella term of PDF documents. A PDF form is a type of PDF document that has editable form fields a user can fill out. Typically, parts of the document are static and can’t be changed in a PDF form. These usually include questions and instructions for those who end up filling out the form later on. In a PDF form, the content fields a user fills out are open to editing and can offer a list of possible answer options or can be written in freely.
Are PDF documents and Word files different?
Yes. They are two entirely different document formats. While you can export from one file format to another, they are not the same. Word file formats are usually used for word processing, editing, and making changes to text. PDF documents on the other hand, are most often utilized for viewing, sharing, and printing documents. Additionally, Word files are read and write and contain some version of the “.doc” file format. Whereas PDF files are typically read-only and contain the “.pdf” file format.
Can you protect PDF documents from being edited by other people?
Yes. If you have a PDF document which you do not want anyone else to be able to edit, you can protect the file. You can do this by opening the file in Acrobat, clicking Tools > Protect. Then you have a few options as to whether you want to simply restrict editing with a password, or if you want to encrypt the file for further safety. Once you choose how you want to protect the PDF document, you can set a password and save.
Apple TV+ is the movie and show streaming service by Apple. It offers access to originals every month and allows you to watch content from popular streaming platforms. If you are someone who is planning to by the subscription for Apple TV+, you might want to hold and get it for free instead. Also Read - Apple Music is now free for 4 months via Shazam: Here's how to grab the deal
Yes, Apple is offering free Apple TV+ to promote the new documentary titled Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me. Gomez also shared the special 2 month trial link on her Twitter page. Also Read - Tim Cook reveals why Apple Music price has been hiked
You can tap here and get free Apple TV+ for two months. Hurry up as the subscription is valid only till December 2, 2022. You don’t need to pay anything for the 2 months of trial, rather, you will only charged in January, if you get it now.
Apple itself offers a free trial of 7 days if you go for its regular monthly plan. You will get 1 month of free trial if you buy Apple One. On the other hand, if you have bought a new Apple device, you get 3 months of Apple TV+ for free.
Assuming that most people reading this haven’t bought a new device, they have to rely on the 7-day trial, followed by paying Rs 99 per month from next month. However, with the new promitional Apple TV+, users can get 2 months of the subscription for free. Post that, they will have to pay Rs 99 per month. But there’s no need to commit. You can cancel the subscription if you don’t want to pay for it.
Apple isn’t new at offering free trials for months. Recently, with Shazam, Apple’s Music subscription was available for free. The service was free for 4 months. Usually, it costs Rs 99 per month for individual plan and Rs 149 for the family plan. There’s also a student plan for Rs 59 per month.
You can read about the free Apple Music subscription here.
Welcome to our weekend Apple Breakfast column, which includes all of the Apple news you missed this week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to supply it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.
The price of free speech
I’ve been doing my best—and not always succeeding—to avoid writing about Elon Musk and Twitter 2.0. Part of the problem is that the “Chief Twit” so transparently wants to be the center of the conversation that even criticism of his behavior ends up playing into his hands. The best way of dealing with an attention-seeking child, in my experience, is to ignore them.
It’s difficult, however, for a website to ignore a man who publicly declares war on the company you write about. This week Musk has taken umbrage with Apple for censoring apps, taking a “secret” 30 percent cut of app revenue, and threatening to remove Twitter from the App Store (he later admitted that one was wrong). Most bizarrely, he claimed the company had reduced its ad spend on Twitter and wondered if it, therefore, “hate(s) free speech in America.”
There’s a fair bit of nonsense here. You can’t argue that Apple hates free speech because it declined to spend a sufficiently astronomical sum of money placing adverts next to white supremacists. That has nothing to do with free speech—it’s a business decision. (Incidentally, it might not have even been true, according to ad analytics.)
Furthermore, and despite apparent assurances that this won’t happen, it wouldn’t be unprecedented for Apple to remove Twitter from the App Store. Parler got booted for failing to offer rigorous content moderation and was only allowed back after it promised to do better. Fortnite was booted for trying to bypass App Store revenue cuts, and Musk reportedly wants to do the same thing for Twitter Blue subscriptions. In any case, Apple is allowed to kick people off its platform, just as Musk is free to peevishly cancel a critical blogger’s Tesla order. I sincerely doubt he believes that businesses should be obliged to work with people they don’t like.
Amongst the wrongness, however, there’s some fair criticism. The revenue cut, for example, certainly isn’t a secret, but it may be excessive and is arguably enforced by monopolistic behavior. Apple’s militantly wholesome approach to app censorship is weird and frustrating. (The company arbitrarily holds apps to a different moral standard than other forms of media. “If you want to criticize a religion,” the App Store guidelines famously stated, “write a book.”) And it has plenty of other blind spots when it comes to free speech.
Perhaps the most troubling example of this could be observed last month. Protesters in China had been communicating using AirDrop, but Apple obligingly added a restriction (in that country only) on sharing files with strangers, a decision believed to have been made in response to pressure from the state. Needless to say, Apple didn’t highlight this change in the iOS 16.1.1 release notes, nor did it comment on the matter publicly.
But this isn’t the first time Apple has helped the Chinese state to restrict free speech. The company has removed numerous apps from the App Store in China, including VPNs, RSS readers, the New York Times, podcast players, and apps related to the Dalai Lama. If there’s one thing Apple does without a fight, it’s bending over backward to limit the speech of citizens to accommodate the wishes of a repressive state.
That’s before we even get to Apple’s own employees, who as recently as last year were facing restrictions on their ability to discuss pay with colleagues. In Cupertino, censorship begins at home.
The mistake, perhaps, is to regard these decisions as political–which Musk would like them to be, because that helps him to paint Apple as a Marxist commune of woke snowflakes. But that’s exactly the opposite of the truth. Apple’s position on free speech is purely capitalist. It purges apps in China because China is an important market to see iPhones. It advertises on Twitter because that’s historically been a good place to reach customers and burnish its brand, and it will stop doing so when that’s no longer the case. These are cold business decisions. Musk thinks Apple is too political, but when it comes to free speech, I don’t think it’s political enough.
Anyway, hopefully, I never need to write about Elon Musk again, particularly as he and Tim Cook are apparently best mates now. After reading his Twitter feed I feel like I need a shower. Let us never speak of this again. Unless you insist… after all, I don’t want anyone to think I hate free speech in America.
Trending: Top stories of the week
Apple may miss many boats, but it’s only because they’re flimsy and taking on water.
If Apple is serious about sports, tvOS needs some serious upgrades. Apple TV isn’t ready for prime time.
Android’s Sunbird might actually be able to cure us of the green bubble iMessage scourge.
A judge has approved Apple’s massive MacBook keyboard lawsuit payout. Here’s how to claim your (up to) $395 check.
‘Cultural impact’ took center stage as Apple announced the 2022 App Store Awards winners.
Apple Watch Ultra users can now get the Oceanic+ app for deep-sea diving.
Video of the week
A “baffling” teardown of the 10th-gen iPad seems to have solved the Apple Pencil mystery. Enjoy:
The rumor mill
“Better speeds, better battery life, less heat.” The upcoming M2 MacBook Pro will reportedly be worth the wait.
Don’t fret, those leaked M2 Max Geekbench scores are exactly what we expect.
A new report says the iPhone 15 will get a ‘breakthrough’ camera sensor.
Apple’s upcoming xrOS may be the start of a whole new ecosystem of devices.
Jason Cross predicts everything coming from Apple in December. Are any holiday surprises on the way?
Podcast of the week
This episode is all about Macworld reader and listener hot takes. You have thoughts on Apple happenings and we’re going to share and respond to what you wrote.
You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site.
Software updates, bugs & problems
LastPass has warned users of a ‘security incident’ that may have exposed personal data.
Google has shipped an 8th emergency Chrome update for Mac to fix a ‘high-severity’ flaw.
Apple has released iOS 16.1.2 with improved crash detection and carrier upgrades.
This week iOS 16.2 beta 3 got a second Rapid Security Response update.
And with that, we’re done for this week. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Twitter for breaking news stories. See you next Saturday, enjoy the rest of your weekend, and stay Appley.
Twitter owner Elon Musk publicly slammed Apple on Monday for suspending some of its advertising on the social media platform, asking if leaders of the tech company “hate free speech.”
“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter,” Musk announced.
“Do they hate free speech in America?”
Musk called out Apple CEO Tim Cook in a second tweet, writing: “What’s going on here @tim_cook?”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal closed last month, has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” and promised to advocate for it using his ownership of the platform.
Racist language and misinformation have reportedly surged on Twitter since Musk’s acquisition, and left-leaning watchdog Media Matters for America found that 50 of Twitter’s leading 100 advertisers appear to have halted their work with the site.
Those 50 companies made up $750 million in spending on Twitter over the course of 2022, according to the analysis.
Musk claimed that Apple “has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why.”
The Hill has reached out to Apple for comment on the alleged threats.
Musk posted a parade of tweets criticizing Apple for its “monopoly” on tech products and its censorship of some language.
Content sharing and publishing platform LBRY posted over its official Twitter account that “Apple may make good products, but they have been opposed to free speech for some time.”
“During Covid, Apple demanded our apps filter some search terms from being returned. If we did not filter the terms, our apps would not be allowed in the store,” the account wrote in response to Musk’s question about Apple and free speech.
“Who else has Apple censored?” responded Musk.
Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk yesterday asked if Apple "hates free speech"—because the iPhone maker isn't spending as much on Twitter advertising as it used to. "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?" Musk wrote. "What's going on here @tim_cook?"
Musk didn't explain how Apple's Twitter ad spending is related to its stance on free speech. But he subsequently wrote a series of tweets criticizing Apple's policies and claimed that Apple threatened to pull Twitter off the iOS App Store.
"Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won't tell us why," Musk wrote a bit later. Musk did not provide further details on Apple's demands or explain how Apple conveyed the message to Twitter.
"It's a real problem. Apple and Google effectively control access to most of the Internet via their app stores," Musk wrote today.
Twitter moderation laxer under Musk
Apple does pull apps from the iOS store for violating App Store policies, and many developers have complained about apps or app updates being rejected without a good explanation. For a social media company like Twitter, it's possible that Apple has concerns about content moderation.
Apple kicked Parler off its app store in January 2021 and allowed it back on in April 2021 after the self-described "free speech" social network made changes to its content moderation. Google booted Parler in January 2021 and allowed the company back in September 2022.
While Twitter apparently had no problems staying on Apple's App Store before Musk bought the company, mass layoffs and resignations have made it harder to enforce Twitter's content moderation rules. The Musk-led Twitter has also chosen to stop enforcing its policy on misleading information about COVID-19, and some of Musk's tweets yesterday suggest Musk isn't happy about Apple's stance on COVID misinformation.
We contacted Apple about Musk's claims and will update this article if we get a response. Musk wrote on Friday that he would "make an alternative phone" if Apple and Google kick Twitter off their app stores.
Musk: “Who else has Apple censored?”
After one app maker told Musk yesterday that "During Covid, Apple demanded our apps filter some search terms from being returned," Musk shared the tweet and wrote, "Who else has Apple censored?"
In another tweet about the search-term filtering, Musk wrote, "Secret suppression of free speech by Apple. Customers were never told. What the hell is going on here?" The app developer Musk was responding to had claimed that "Apple disallowed almost anything related to Covid, especially vaccines or human origins of the virus."
In response to other people's tweets saying that "Apple should support free speech" and that "Monopolies should be subject to the same limits we placed on our government in the Bill of Rights," Musk replied, "Absolutely, especially if done in collusion with the government."
Musk also polled users, asking whether "Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers."
Musk further criticized what he called Apple's "secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store." Apple's App Store commission is far from a secret and is the subject of a well-publicized lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games in which dozens of state attorneys general sided with Epic. Apple's commission is 15 percent for developers with less than $1 million of annual App Store revenue under a rule change made in 2020.
After his flurry of Apple-related tweets, Musk wrote, "This is a battle for the future of civilization. If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead."
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In this episode of Apple @ Work, Justin Singh from McGraw-Hill joins the show to talk about the Sharpen app. Sharpen is designed as a fast and free way to learn about anything.
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