How can I manage PDFs in Chrome on a computer?

You can view, edit, and control PDF files directly in Google Chrome without needing extra software.

To open a PDF, simply click a PDF link online or drag a PDF file into a Chrome window. Chrome will display it using its built-in PDF viewer.

Once opened, you can use the toolbar at the top of the viewer. You can scroll through pages, zoom in or out, and jump to specific pages using the page navigation controls.

Chrome also allows basic editing. You can add text, highlight content, or draw on the PDF using annotation tools (availability depends on your Chrome version). These tools are useful for quick edits or notes.

If you want to save the file, click the download icon in the PDF viewer. This will store a copy in your computer’s Downloads folder or your chosen location.

To print a PDF, click the print icon or press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Command + P (Mac). You can also choose Save as PDF if you want to create a new PDF file.

If you prefer to open PDFs in another program, go to Chrome Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Additional content settings > PDF documents, and enable the option to download PDFs instead of opening them automatically.

With the Chrome PDF viewer, you can:

• Highlight, annotate or draw on a document.
• Fill in and sign paperwork.
• Take personal notes.

When you use the Chrome PDF viewer to access PDFs, scanned PDFs of physical documents are automatically converted to be searchable and selectable using optical character recognition (OCR). After the conversion, you can highlight, search, copy, paste and find text within the document. The conversion is completed on your device without sending any data to Google or third parties.

Open a PDF

1. On your computer, open a PDF in Chrome.
   • You may need to open your PDF in a new tab.
2. To open or edit your PDF, select Menu   Open in new tab or Download .

Download a PDF

In the Chrome PDF viewer, select Download   With your changes or Without your changes.

• For Chromebook users, to keep your changes, select Save.

Tip: You can select for PDFs to open in Chrome or download to your device.

• To change your settings, in the address bar, enter chrome://settings/content/pdfDocuments.

Save a PDF to Drive

Navigate a PDF

In the Chrome PDF viewer, you can manage the page display of a PDF.

• Zoom in or out the page: Select Zoom in  or Zoom out .
• Adjust the page fit: Select Fit to page  or Fit to width .
• Rotate the page orientation: Select Rotate .

You can also navigate your PDF with a keyboard.

1. On your computer, open a PDF in Chrome.
2. To turn caret browsing on or off, press F7.
   1. Or, select More   Settings  Accessibility.
   2. Turn Navigate pages with a text cursor on or off.
3. To put keyboard focus on the PDF, press Tab.
   • You can also click anywhere on the PDF.
4. On the PDF:
   • To navigate around the text, press any of the arrow keys.
   • To navigate by words:
     • Windows, Linux or ChromeOS: Press Ctrl + Left arrow or Ctrl + Right arrow.
     • MacOS: Press Option + Left arrow or Option + Right arrow.
   • To select by character, press Shift + any of the arrow keys.
   • To select by words:
     • Windows, Linux or ChromeOS: Press Shift + Ctrl + any of the arrow keys.
     • MacOS: Press Shift + Option + any of the arrow keys
   • To highlight on the text:
     1. Select Draw .
     2. To put keyboard focus on the PDF, press Tab.
        • You can also click anywhere on the PDF.
     3. To highlight, you can either highlight by character or by words.
        • To highlight by character, press Shift + any of the arrow keys.
        • To highlight by words:
          • Windows, Linux or ChromeOS: Press Shift + Ctrl + any of the arrow keys.
          • MacOS: Press Shift + Option + any of the arrow keys.

Annotate, highlight and draw a signature on a PDF

1. On your computer, open a PDF in Chrome.
   • You may need to open your PDF in a new tab.
   • To open or edit your PDF, select Menu   Open in new tab or Download .
2. In the Chrome PDF viewer, you can:
   • Draw or highlight text:
     1. Select Draw .
     2. On the right panel, select a pen or highlighter.
        • To draw, select Pen .
        • To highlight, select Highlighter .
          • You can select your preferred size and colour.
     3. To draw or highlight on the PDF:
        • For mouse: Click and hold while you drag the cursor.
        • For touchpad: Tap and hold while you drag your finger.
   • Erase annotations:
     1. Select Eraser .
     2. Erase annotation or highlight.
   • Draw a signature:
     1. Select Draw .
     2. On the right panel, select Pen .
     3. Select a size and colour.
     4. To draw your signature:
        • For mouse: Click and hold while you drag the cursor.
        • For touchpad: Tap and hold while you drag your finger.
          • You can zoom in to the part of the document that needs the signature.
     5. Select Done.
   • Undo or redo an action: Select Undo  or Redo .

Tip: When the browser window is smaller, the right panel doesn't show and a compact panel shows at the bottom.

Related resources

• Download a file
• Print from Chrome
• Read pages later and offline

You can also manage previously downloaded PDFs by pressing Ctrl + J (Windows) or Command + Shift + J (Mac) to open the downloads page.

In summary, Chrome provides a built-in PDF viewer that lets you open, read, annotate, download, and print PDF files easily on your computer.